Living with the Briefs
by Queen-Kai-95
Summary: Chi Chi has died giving birth to Goten and the two orphaned Sons go off to live with the Briefs family. We jump in 7 years later just as Gohan starts high school, following him as he makes friends, fights crime, and discovers girls. Formally known as 'Stable and Unstable', rated 'M' just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note**

**Hey guys! So basically this is a story that's mostly based around Gohan and Videl but I also want to feature a bit of Bulma and Vegeta in here too. I want to see how it would pan out for these characters if they were here together and had to function as a family. I promise a lot of fun and embarrassment for all our favourite characters so get reading! Good and bad opinions are always welcome if you have a suggestion on how I could improve.**

**Disclaimer**

**If I owned DBZ I wouldn't be poor. All rights reserved to the master Akira Toriyama.**

**-.**

**-.**

Gohan flew over mount Paozu, enjoying the soft breeze that skimmed over the mountains as he headed back into West City. Every few days he travelled over these lush fields to train and meditate. Piccolo was usually around to join in and offer up pointers but to Gohans surprise and disappointment he was a no show today.

Above clouds and over roads and buildings Gohan flung himself through the skies fast enough so the eyes below wouldn't detect him.

He started his decent down into Capsule Corps back yard, reigning in on all the power signatures throughout the house. Carefully and silently he landed and powered right down and screened over the property, looking for Goten.

He figured it'd be easier to get some quick study time in before Goten realised he was home. The little tyke hung off his brother like your favourite perfume and if he ever asked Gohan for anything he knew he'd never refuse him, it made him Gohans biggest distraction.

He sensed him and his devil twin to the right quickly emerging from the trees and quickly made a run for the back door. Once he was sure they hadn't seen him and he was safe he paced up stairs to his room, discarding his sweat soaked shirt into the hamper as he entered.

Walking over to his desk he twisted his chair around and settled into it before pulling over his biology and chemistry textbooks hoping that he could get some quick revision in before a shower and dinner. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

-.

-.

Down the hall and to the right in the kitchen stood the one and only blue haired diva. Her eyes lingered out of the window down at her two boys playing in the backyard. Moments ago she spied Gohan flying into the grounds and her mind had drifted towards tomorrow. It was the last day of the summer holidays and Gohan just turning 17 was due to start at his first ever high school and make his first real and normal friends.

Sighing into her cup of tea she hoped to god that she had prepared him enough for school and wondered how Chi Chi would have loved to have been here to see her little scholar take his first steps into the world. That woman was a fiery demoness when it came to her children.

"Stop staring out of the damn window," Vegeta entered the kitchen and walked over to the fridge,  
"I have caught you goo-goo eyeing out this window same time everyday all week."

Bulma rolled her eyes, "well hello there to you to your majesty, jealous you aren't the centre of this beautiful princess' world anymore?"

Vegeta twisted the cap off his bottle of water and took a swig as he walked over to stand next to Bulma.

"You wish," he smirked, following her line of vision out to the backyard.

"Damn those two no eared brats," he leaned forward and unlatched the window, shoving his head out into the breeze, "what do you two think you're doing!" he barked, "your training does not end for another 30 minutes, I suggest you get back to work before I come down there and have one on one sessions with both of you!"

The two halflings looked at each other frightened and then quickly scuttled, taking up their fighting stances to spar immediately as Vegeta tucked his head back into the window.

"Vegeta don't yell at them like that! It's the last day of holidays for gods sake, give them a damn break, you've been working them tirelessly for the past 2 months."

"Yes, because if you weren't so soft on those two they'd be true warriors by now," he watched as his partners face started to twist in frustration as the words of her retort were red hot on her lips.

Vegeta smirked. Oh how he loved nothing more than antagonising this woman.

-.

-.

"Hey Goten, do you think we can get Gohan to teach us telepathy?" Trunks asked.

"I don't know Trunks, maybe we should just ask him," he suggested, "why do you wanna learn teleampithy anyway?"

"Its teLEPathy," he corrected, "this is why I'm the brains in this friendship. And the looks. And the strength. Well you get the point."

The two sat down by a tree in the woods to the east of their property and with a small concentrated ball of ki at the end of Trunks index finger he started to carve his initials into the wood.

"Nuh-uh Trunks, I could beat you in a spar any day! Besides, what's telepathy anyway?"

"Come on Goten don't you know anything," he stuck his tongue out in concentration as he paid extra attention to how neat he was making his 'B', "telepathy is the ability to read people's minds."

"Woaaah," Goten sighed, "and my brother can do that? So cool."

"Yeah, imagine how cool it'll be if we could read peoples minds Goten!" finishing up his last intial he turned to face his friend, "we would be able to tell if a bad guy is bluffing in a fight, or if a teacher asks us a question we can read their minds and get it right which will instantly impress everyone! And we could find out where dad hides all his candy!"

Goten instantly perked up at the mention of candy, already 100% committed to learn this cool new technique.

"Mom once told me he had three whole bags in their room somewhere." Trunks said.

"Oh my god Trunks, three whole bags of candy!" Goten jumped up in excitement.

"Yah, if we learn telepathy we'll find his stash for sure," standing up he stretched his legs out.

"Coooooool. Hey speaking of your dad Trunks, don't you think he's going to get mad if he finds out we aren't training?"

"Goten you know my dad has a thing with bugs. Of course he wouldn't come into a place crawling with insects to find us." Trunks ran his finger over the mark he left in the tree, "wanna play tag?"

Without even the slightest hint of warning he moved faster than the eye could see and lightly tapped Goten on the head before running for his life.

"Hey, no fair Trunks!" getting his bearings together Goten jumped to his feet and trailed after that familiar blur of lavender, "fine, here I come!"

-.

-.

**I finally had the chance to fix up all the awful paragraphing mistakes in this chapter. What'd you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note:  
As always thanks for being around to read my rubbish. In advanced I want to apologise for the grammar, I'm really not the best with it which is why I'd love grammar tips from the readers. Really guys, the criticism you put in your reviews no matter how mean only serve to make this story better and if you ask questions I'll answer them at the end of the story. Until next time, happy reading! Also anyone interested in a little fan art?**

**Disclaimer:  
I do not own DB, DBZ or DBGT, all rights reserved to Akira Toriyama.**

**_**

The family of five had gathered in the kitchen for the morning meal. It was usually the first and last place the household came together until dinner. Bulma cherished these mornings, since the Saiyans appetites weren't as ferocious as they are during dinner time it meant she could actually talk to them all without getting food sprayed at her.

"Trunks and Goten, your clothes for school are laid out in your bedrooms. Once you're finished breakfast I want you both to go get dressed and brush your teeth ok? We don't want to be late for the first day of school. Again."

"But Bulma, can't we just wear our training gi's?" Goten replied.

"No honey, if you went to school in the same clothes everyday your teachers might think I don't take care of you properly. Besides, it's a blessing to be clothed by such a stylish person like myself. If I remember correctly Goten your mother had the most bizarre sense of style, bless her, I think Gohan knows that first hand." she winked at him.

"Don't remind me," he blushed.

"Actually I'm sure I have a photo or two lying around here somewhere," Bulma scooted her chair back and disappeared into the house, taking her mug of coffee with her. A few minutes later she emerged with an open photo album supported in her free arm. She resumed her position at the table and slipped the book over to Trunks and Goten, grinning at Gohan the whole while.

Gohan took a peek over at the two younger Saiyans. He couldn't see their faces over the album but he could hear the distinct sound of stifled laughter. Then suddenly they dropped the book and burst out into convulsive fits, pointing at Gohan and holding their chests as they heaved for air. Embarrassed already at what it might be he quickly stood and leaned over the table to snatch up the book and find the photo in question. But sure enough there he was.

"Oh god," his face reddened even deeper. Gohan vaguely remembered his mom fussing over him profusely before his first trip to Namek. She'd forced him into the most constricting suit she could find and paired it with the most awful bowl cut in history.

Vegeta leaned over to find out what all the fuss was about and within seconds his own hearty laughter joined the rest of the table, "Oh my god boy, look at that haircut!" he boomed.

"And those shorts!" Trunks gasped. Goten couldn't compose himself enough to even add his own comment on young Gohan's attire.

"Hey Vegeta, is that you in the pink shirt?" Gohan pointed at the picture across the page of a little baby Trunks joyfully pulling on the hair of a very distressed Vegeta, "Is that a tear I see in your eye?" a grin started to spread across Gohans face as Vegeta began to take on his own tinge of red. Bulma took the Album to see for herself then had to cover her mouth to stop the laughter from coming through as she forwarded it to the boys. All together they laughed at how silly the look on his face was and Vegeta stood up and stormed off, muttering about brats, devil women and pink shirts.

Bulma sighed, "Alright boys funs over, go get dressed and I'll be in soon to help with your bags," the two demi Saiyans got to their feet and instantly tried to race each other to their rooms, "and Gohan I want to see you before you leave for school today, meet me in the backyard ok?" she smiled.

Gohan finished his last serving of food, "Ok Bulma," he returned the smile and headed for his own room, completely thankful that nobody but himself got to pick his own clothes for school today.

_

Thirty minutes later and finally Bulma had managed to get the boys ready for school. Her job as a mother was even tougher than usual when her kids had the power to lose their possessions from anywhere between the roof of this house to Paris and Australia. They didn't even want to wear the clothes she brought for them! And since Vegeta was still off sulking about that picture and wouldn't help her catch the two saiyans she had to settle on letting them wear their fighting clothes or they were going to be late. Now she fully understood why Vegeta called them brats.

"Gohan I'm so glad you're still here!" she wiped a drop of sweat from her forehead while she ran over to him, "would you please take these two to school, one of them lost their shoes on the roof and it took us 15 minutes to find them, and if I have to sit in a car for twenty more minutes with those two I'm going to both lose my hair and they'll be late for school"

Gohan scratched his head and smiled at her, "of course Bulma, I don't start for another half an hour," he grinned over at Goten and Trunks, "looks like you two are flying to school with me today!"  
They both cheered in excitement and immediately jumped into the sky, eager to start the flight to school.

Gohan turned to follow before Bulma shouted out, "Wait a minute guys, I want a photo of you all before you leave!"

Goten and Trunks floated back down, never being able to pass up the opportunity to pose for a camera. Gohan took the centre while Trunks and Goten hovered just behind each one of Gohans shoulders. As Bulma aligned her camera to get them at the perfect angle Gohan gave a big grin that could rival even his fathers as the two in the back flexed their arm muscles and gave silly faces. Bulma laughed as she snapped the photo and then insisted on one more but with Gohan doing something silly as well. She took her photos and then saw them off, giving each one a kiss on the head and warned them to stay above the clouds lest they want to get detected. She stayed out in the yard until the shining sky swallowed them whole, hoping Gohan would have a good, normal and uneventful day at school.

_

Gohan waved from the school gate as he watched Goten and Trunks run in to reunite with all their friends. He smiled and wondered if that's what it'd be like for him once he'd made some friends.  
Looking around he realised it'd be way too packed to fly from here. There were too many people to see him, even if he did go into an alleyway. Luckily for him he could almost see his school from there so he didn't think he'd be late if he just walked. Though he stopped to ask one of the parents for directions anyway just in case.

On his way he pulled out one of his books, nervous that he might not be fully prepared for studies at an actual school. He walked briskly down a street he was directed to go through, occupied in his book until he heard gun fire just a distance off of where he was. He had heard the sirens in the background but backed up a few paces after shots were heard, "what's going on here," he groaned seeing police cars under fire from what looked like three shooters trying to rob Satan City Bank.

"Another batch of crooks," he took his bag off and laid it on the concrete, already deciding he would take action. But then he stopped to think of what Bulma had told him about hiding his powers, he thought for a second at what he could do. He couldn't just rush in like this he'd get recognised but he couldn't just leave and let people die, "I guess if I transform no one will recognise me," and that was the end of it. Gohan immediately jumped into action, he powered up just enough to change forms but not enough to alert the other Z-Fighters.

"Is this the best you pigs can do?!" A man sporting a ski mask shouted over the bullets of his gun, unfortunately for him he was the first crook Gohan set his sights on.

Leaping over the scatter of bullets Gohan landed a swift kick to his head, effectively stopping the rain of metal. Using his falling body to his advantage Gohan sprung off him landing a solid punch onto his comrade who had only a split second to realise his partner was down before he too were knocked to the ground. This only left one more to deal with and he was standing right in front of him, "Eat lead!" he screamed as he tried to empty the rest of his clip into Gohans chest. The super saiyan chuckled, with his 13 years of training and fighting experience these bullets were no match with his reflexes.

The frightened thug stumbled back, baffled and shocked at the feat he'd just witnessed. He swallowed hard as he watched Gohan drop each crushed bullet as he started to crouch into position to strike him down. With no hesitation he immediately leaped into action, throwing his body forward and landing one extremely hard kick to the chest.

As he watched his body fall to the ground he heard the engine of their getaway car roar to life behind him. The first two assailants had made their speedy recovery and were now trying to make their escape. Quickly Gohan turned and outstretched his palm in the direction of their retreating car, feeling for the core of his energy he was careful to only push small bursts of waves out of his hand not wanting to fire any blasts that could kill them, just enough to flip the car and trap the offenders for the police.

As the crowd followed the car through the air Gohan took this opportunity to run down an alleyway and power down before he could be questioned or snapped by any reporters. The last thing he needed was himself to end up on the 6 o'clock news where Bulma could see and on his first day of school no less. He made his way across the street and he checked his watch, gasping at the time –I really need to pick up the pace now- if he didn't move his butt he was going to be late for his first day of school. Then how would that look! He ran over to the spot he left his bag but in his haste accidently fell into someone who had just rounded the corner and arrived at the scene. Gohan stumbled and quickly apologised, helping her up before he went to run off.

"Hey! Wait you! Tell me what happened here, this hardly looks like police work," she demanded.

Gohan fumbled for his words, "uhhh, I guess I wasn't looking," he could feel his cheeks starting to burn as he realised what excuse he had just given. He glanced over to his interrogator but noticed she seemed to be more preoccupied in the scene before her, talking to herself as she went.  
_'How strange_,' Gohan thought. Taking this opportunity to slip away he ran as fast as he could. He really hoped he wasn't going to be late.

_

To Gohans surprise it hadn't been such a hard day after all. He was yet to really talk to anyone and make friends but apart from the occasional comment on his 'nerdy' demeanour all was running smoothly. The school day was rounding out to lunch time which meant he only had English and Gym before he could officially count the day as over.

Out in the bright and shining sun Gohan sat in a beautiful garden on the east side of the school. There wasn't many people out here but he thought there ought to be. They had a dazzling range of flowers planted in tall standing crates of soil which surrounded wooden booths for students to sit in. The trees above him let just the perfect amount of sun trickle through its swaying leaves as he tried to read his school map. It seemed like there were multitudes of blocks and levels and classrooms and it all was a bit confusing. Gohan had to spend most of his recess and now lunch searching for his classes so he wouldn't be late. So to say he was absolutely starving was an understatement.

After a few more minutes he threw caution to the wind and thought he'd just rely on his smarts and luck to get him to the right rooms. Maybe he could follow someone familiar there. Sitting back he just enjoyed the playful breeze and warmth of the light, letting his mind drift off to the events of this morning. In these last few years of peace he hadn't had a need to use his powers and usually that was the way he liked it, always he had known that he wasn't much of a fighter, much to Vegeta's annoyance, but he had felt a rush of pure adrenalin being out on the frontline that morning just being able to do good. He felt elated being able to take care of something that was so minor to him and a burst of pride at the thought of doing the right thing, just the way his dad had taught him time and time again. So in his mind it had already been settled, he would continue to do his part in this city. The only thing he had to worry about now was telling Bulma.

-_Rinnnnnng, rinnng_-

Gohan stood and stretched out his back and arms, as of that bell he had only 5 minutes to figure out where he was going so off he went to English.

_

Through blocks, hallways and hordes of teenagers he'd finally come to the right room, thankfully it was close to his locker or he wouldn't have made it. Again his teacher had emphasised his academic talents when introducing him leading to more comments about the size of his brain. Luckily for him the nice girl next to him had offered him a seat next to her saving him the embarrassment of choosing somewhere to sit. She introduced herself and the two friends who sat beside her, one of which hadn't stopped staring at him since he sat down.

Every time he caught her eye all he could do was smile awkwardly and try shift his attention back to his work. She looked oddly familiar but he had never heard her name before so he chucked it down to coincidence and tried to focus on the exercise.

Gohan just couldn't believe it, after Hercule Satans supposed battle with Cell not only had they named the whole city after him but they even used him in their textbook exercises. He chuckled, although completely ridiculous he couldn't imagine it being called Goku and Gohan City and having his life spread out in textbook pages for everyone to read about didn't sound appealing to him either. He was thankful for the anonymity he had over the years, being able to live his life peacefully. Well as peaceful as he could with Trunks and Goten around.

"Hey, did you hear about the Golden Fighter?" Gohan heard the boy in front of him whisper, "I heard he took out three robbers within seconds and then vanished into thin air!" he exclaimed.

'Oh no' Gohan thought, it'd only been five hours and word had circulated about him already. He tried to bury himself deeper into his textbook to hide the panic in his face, fully aware of the two big blue eyes watching him from the side.

"Hey Gohan, you've heard of the Golden Fighter right?" Videl questioned.

"Golden fighter? What do you mean?" he lamely countered. If it were any more possible for Gohan to bury his face deeper into his book he would have done it.

"The one from this morning don't you remember? I mean I saw you there so you must have witnessed it," Videl eyed him suspiciously, watching and waiting for him to give anything away.  
_  
_"Oh, yeah," he gulped, he knew she had looked familiar. He had bowled into her this morning on his way out of the crime scene.

The crease between Videls eyes deepened as she realised he wasn't going to give anything else up, "You know Gohan I just remembered something, what the Gold Fighter was said to be wearing," now Gohan had no choice but to look at her, "a white shirt, a black vest and red pants. Sound familiar?"

"Wow Gohan, you and the Gold Fighter have similar taste," Erasa giggled.

His palms started to sweat, it took all his might to not look away from her direct stare and start fidgeting with his pens. Not even one day and his powers were about to be found out.  
_'So much for anonymity, Bulma is going to kill me' _Gohan took a split second to think as he opened his mouth to talk, no words or thoughts of what he should say formed "uhhh-"

"You three at the back, pay attention!" their teacher barked.

Simultaneously the three snapped back to attention, eyes on their textbooks. Once again Gohan hid himself in his book extremely grateful for the interruption. For now the subject had been dropped and didn't pick up again for the rest of the lesson, the group only stopping to talk when Erasa made a genuine effort to get to know him. He knew Videl wasn't likely to give up on her interrogation but at least he had some time to prepare himself for her next strike.

The bell rang and Erasa offered to walk with Gohan to gym since they all had the class together. He knew he was still under surveillance so this made him more anxious. If Videl was there to watch his every move he really needed to reign in his powers lest he wanted to go through another round of questions he couldn't answer.

"Hey Videl I'm going with Gohan to his locker so he doesn't get lost, I'll catch you in gym ok," she gave a smile and Videl just rolled her eyes and walked off with Sharpner. She turned to see Gohan frown as the two walked away, "oh, don't worry about her Gohan. Since Videls been working for the police force she's naturally suspicious of everybody"

"But isn't that a little dangerous, what if she got hurt?" he realised this is why he bumped into her this morning at the bank, she could have been seriously hurt by those goons and their guns if she tried to intervene.

Erasa just laughed, tucking a strand of loose blonde hair behind her ear, "Videl is Mr Satans daughter, didn't you know that Gohan? She's the strongest person on this planet next to her pops"

Gohan could have just fell to the ground and drifted off into Otherworld, he wasn't sure if it was because of Videl being that big goofs daughter or the strongest being on this planet comment.

"You really didn't know huh?" Erasa giggled taking in his dumbstruck expression, "well come on move your tush Gohan or we'll be late"

_'Oh man, I've spent almost all day being late' _ Gohan quickly swapped his textbooks for his gym gear, "lead the way Erasa," and the two set off for their last class of the day.

_

Videl knew there was definitely something up with the new kid. It had been bothering her since he stepped into their English class. He almost ran her down this morning running away from the crime scene and she didn't want to sound like a weakling or anything but it felt like a big rock had threw her to the floor. She had thought he was just running to safety but now she wasn't so sure. The description of the Gold Fighter almost matched him perfectly apart from the golden glowing hair. But the guy seemed to be so whimpy and scrawny, he didn't look or seem like he'd be able to flip a car or beat down three armed men. Never the less he was still counted as a suspect until she was completely sure that he knew nothing or wasn't involved in some way.

"Hey Videl, get a load of Erasa and the geek," Sharpner nodded over to the two walking onto the pitch talking and laughing as they went, "he's on your team by the way."

"I don't think so Sharpner, nerd boy is on your team. It doesn't look like the kid has touched a bat in his life!" she scoffed.

"That's what you think," Sharpner smirked at her before turning to the two approaching, "hey Erasa wanna be on my team? We're batting first!" he shouted.

"Ok!" She replied and made it over to the waiting cage with the rest of the team, nudging Gohan over in Videls direction before she went.

"Guess my team just filled up," he turned back to her and grinned, "sorry Videl."

"Whatever Sharpner, my team could still drive yours into the ground."

"Do you want to make that a bet?" a new gleam came to Sharpners eyes, "unless you realise your team won't win."

"I bet we will win and when we do you're going to be sorry," Videl returned a smirk of her own, "because if we win I get to give you a haircut"

Only for a moment did Sharpner hesitate before he crossed his arms and named his own price, "ok Videl, if you lose then you have to go on a date with me."

Videl's hands balled into a tight grip, the stakes on this game were high and she realised Sharpner not only had a better team but he'd been playing this sport along with a long list of others for years. So there were only three outcomes in this situation, she admit defeat right here and now and have Sharpner flash her that annoyingly smug smirk, she take the bet and lose then have to sit through a few hours of him talking about how hard he worked out his arms that morning or the very unlikely possibility that they win and she gets to go to town on Sharpners perfect gold locks.

She took one look at his face and that's all it took to make up her mind, she was the daughter of Mr Satan and she could never back down from a challenge. Finally she crossed her arms and stood her ground.

"Fine." she agreed and they shook on it to seal the deal before both turned away and walked towards their teams, formulating their game plans.

Videl picked up the bag of catching mitts handing them out as she told who to go into which positions. "Alex I want you on second base, you're our best catcher and it's where we'll get most people out. Tommy go far left field and Jake go far right, you two are our fastest runners so if that ball gets knocked out so far you better run your long legs off. The rest I want you all to spread out and work together, which means no fighting for the ball and always be alert. I really need you guys to win this game for me so get your game face on and lets do this!" the team did as she instructed taking their positions, Videl turned to Gohan and threw him a mitt, "take right field. You know where that is right?"

"Sure on the right, right?" he gave her the signature Son grin and did as she directed.

Videl pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned, praying to the gods to give her strength and massive amounts of luck. They were going to need it.

_

There were only 20 minutes left to the lesson and Videl's team had yet to even have a go at batting, their team only needed one more out to swap over. Sharpner was up and she knew she was going to have to step it up to get him out, she was good but he was better.

Sharpner strut over to the plate, swinging his bat to and fro completely aware of his shoulder and back muscles flexing in the sunlight. He never could resist the chance to play to an audience. Smirking at Videl he got himself lined up, ready for her to literally throw anything at him.

Videl did the same, preparing herself to throw the hardest and straightest ball she could. The only chance she had of getting him out and her team to at least have a chance to win was to aim straight for the catcher's mitts. She leaned back with her bowling arm behind her, ready to put the full power of her hips into the throw. As quick as a flash she flung herself forward, watching and waiting as the ball travelled for its target.

_chinnnng _

The distinct sound of ringing metal sang in the air and she knew Sharpner had hit hard and true. It was up to her fielders now to catch him before he took it home but with Sharpners long legs and athletic ability that was almost an impossible feat, they'd need some kind of miracle.

Yet to turn and see what was happening Videl couldn't hear her team yelling or cheering or anything. No 'pass it to me' or 'quick throw it to second base'.

"Got it!"

"What!" Videl snapped her head around to right field, instantly struck dumb when she found that the same boy who had perfect scores on his entrance exams had just jumped impossibly high catching the ball before Sharpner could even make it to first base.

Halfway between home and first Sharpner stood frozen in mid run, his jaw seemingly slammed into the ground. There was absolutely no way in hell that it was humanly possible for someone to jump that high without help or a machine or something! Nobody made a move or sound and it seemed Gohan had just realised his blunder. He threw the ball down to first base before landing, waiting for the coach to make his call.

"Out... Swap over." Coach blew his whistle, not being able to believe the kid either. He had read his file and assumed he'd be just your regular uncoordinated geek.

In any normal situation Videl would have been on Gohans case quicker than a lion pouncing on its prey but she could have just stripped down and rejoiced at the sound of that whistle, they needed to swap over and rack up some points quick or she'd be spending her Saturday with Sharpner.

Teams started to move and switch over, whispering and staring at Gohan. He pulled his cap down as an effort to hide the blush creeping up on his face, muttering about new shoes and good diets. __

Sharpner had finally figured out how to function again and moved onto the pitcher's mound while Videl picked up the bat and walked over to Gohan, "please tell me you can hit as good as you can catch." she almost pleaded.

"I guess so," he only had a moment to blink before he found himself wielding the bat and being pushed towards the batting plate.

"Yay, go Gohan!" Erasa cheered.

"Erasa, you're not supposed to cheer for the other team!" Sharpner bellowed, "Alright brains, I don't know how you pulled that off but no one can get a hit past me as pitcher," Sharpner gave him a grin as he leaned back and threw the ball as hard as he possible could straight at Gohans face, knowing he'd have to duck and strike out.

Videl watched from the cage surprised at the amount of force Sharpner put into his pitch, no matter how good Gohan was he'd better duck or that nice clear skin of his was about to be washed in a nice purple and yellow.

But he didn't. He hadn't ducked, he hadn't even flinched, and not a single feature on his face had even budged.

"Oh my god Gohan!" Erasa's distressed squeal was the only thing heard over the smack of the ball colliding with Gohans face. She had already taken a few steps away from the base she was defending, worried Gohan might have been hurt.

"Hey coach, this means I walk right?" Gohan asked, unaware of the blanket of silence that had once again graced the field. Nodding was all that their Coach could manage at the moment.__

Videl gasped and stood to get a closer look at him, watching as he ran towards a stunned Erasa planted on first base. Anyone who could take one of Sharpners hits like that was made of steel and anyone who could jump as high as he did were in a whole other dimension so it seemed he was definitely more than just a walking brain.

Videl turned back to the rest of her team, lining up her best players to bat first before she went out herself to bat. They only had 15 minutes left and needed a miracle to catch up.

The game had 5 minutes before the lesson would come to a close and Videl needed only 2 more points to beat Sharpners team. They had one person planted on third base and it was Gohan's turn to walk up to the batting plate. He was completely aware that his decision here on the field decided whether or not his team won or lost, thanks to Videl practically screaming it off to the side. He could hear the rest of his team as well as Erasa cheering him on, much to Sharpners annoyance.

Once again Sharpner put all his power into the throw this time aiming lower, if it were to hit Gohan again their team would be able to walk and then they'd be tied so Sharpner took a little more caution in where he threw the ball.

Close, closer, closer, swing!

Every eye on that field followed the ball as it soared through the sky, every second getting further and further away. Videl almost leaped into the air. Gohan had still been planted in that spot until he heard his team going wild screaming for him to run, if he didn't make it back to home before that ball came back in then their teams would be tied. So with one foot in front of the other he set off.

_First base, second base, third base, home!_

Videl jumped out of her seat and their team exploded with cheers, "Gohan you champion!" she jumped, she shouted and she rejoiced as they all swarmed Gohan as he came into home base. The instant feeling of relief and victory washed over her, melting away the pressure in her shoulders. Videl opened up her arms to an approaching Erasa to invite her into the circle, wanting her to share in the euphoria of their teams' victory, even though she had played for the other side. The two girls pushed their way through to the middle of the crowd where a beaming Gohan stood.

Videl smiled and planted her hands on her hips, "well I guess you are more than just a nerd after all," she nudged him with her elbow to let him know he did great.

"Thanks Videl," he returned a smile of his own hoping the burn in his cheeks wasn't too noticeable.

"Yeah Gohan, you're a real knock out," everyone turned their attention to a sour looking Sharpner prodding his way through the crowd.

"Oh Sharpner,"Videl tsked, "that frown isn't going to go very well with your new haircut!" she crowed, "As of this day you have exactly one week left with your hair and then," she lifted one hand forming scissors with her middle and index fingers, "snip, snip"

It looked as though Sharpner had stopped breathing and the whole squad laughed, leaving him once again stunned while they shuffled off to the showers. Slowly he raised his hand up to caress the strands that fell over his shoulder, an almost silent, "no," was the only thing he muttered before he silently trudged after his friends to the locker room.

_

"DINNERS READY!"

Gohan was the first to zap down into the kitchen, absolutely starving after the day he had. He began to demolish the food in front of him before even Goten and Trunks had made it to the table. Bulma stood behind the kitchen counter, waiting for the rest of the Saiyans to take their place at the table. One day she had been in the way placing the dishes down on the table after she had called them all to dinner and she had been almost swept away in the saiyans rush to get into their grub. So from then on she got the food ready and got her own and then got out of the way. Lest she wanted another broken leg or to go hungry. Trunks and Goten filed in and then finally Vegeta. After they had truly settled into the mountain of food, only then did Bulma take a seat with her family.

She took her time to eat, waiting for the saiyans to slow down before she could talk to them all. She was dying to find out how Gohan's first day went. "So Gohan, did you make any new friends today?"

Gohan swallowed his current mouthful and smiled, "Yeah I did!"

Bulma let go of the breath she had been holding in, relieved beyond belief that he seemed to have had a good first impression at high school. "Oh good, what are they like? Did you like your classes?"

"Erasa's really nice I guess, she showed me around"

"Gohans got a girlfriend! Gohans got a girlfriend!" Trunks chanted.

Goten lowered his bowl and turned to Gohan, "whats a girlfriend?" he asked in between bites of food.

"What! No guys, she was just a nice girl that's all," he spluttered.

Bulma giggled, "What about your classes Gohan?"

"They were ok, did you know they use Hercule Satan in almost every exercise? My math books, my english books, even my science books! It's ridiculous."

Vegeta grunted, "Bad enough they name the city after him, damn fool," he muttered.

"Gym was a lot of fun too. We played baseball today and boy am I glad Yamcha taught us all those years ago! We even won," he smiled at the thought of their victory, the feelings of elation from the afternoons win still lingering with him.

"That's great Gohan," she grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly, happy that today had gone well for him. "What about you Trunks?"

"We're learning times tables, they're really easy." Trunks shrugged

"Of course, naturally you're a genius just like your mother," she turned to Goten, "what about you buddy?"

"We learnt about dinosaurs!" he threw his little fists into the air, "dinosaurs are cool"

Bulma made a mental note of things she could get him for his birthday, "and of course what about you my sweets?" she turned to her saiyan prince.

"Training," he muttered before returning back to his plate.

"Of course you were," she rolled her eyes, turning her attention to the cleaning bots taking away the empty plates. "I guess it's time for dessert huh?"

The hint of a smile made a very brief appearance on Vegetas lips and Bulma took that as her hint to serve it up, on her way to the kitchen running her hand through the spikes of his hair smiling as he slightly leaned into her.

Everything was calm, just another family dinner.

**_**

**Authors Note:  
Alrightyroo my readers, I just want to ask who'd be interested in some fanart for this story? Nothing fancy as I'm still saving for a laptop and the other appropriate digital art tools just something fun.  
**  
**bigblukrew  
Im hoping I got the spacing right, your review helped me a lot so thank you! Will look for more constructive criticism from you!**

**London Girl  
There will definitely be Vegeta-Goten moments, I also love seeing these particular relationships. As for Vegeta blowing up the forest, how angry would Bulma be for destroying her property, no sex for him :P**

**Show  
I'm actually so sorry about the grammar! I really should have paid more attention in English but im working on it. Anyway I think Gohan is both bad ass and dork, that's what makes him such a great character!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alrighty, so with this chapter I've decided to just jump right into the action because it was just taking me too long to write in more fluffy parts. The second part of this chapter is well on its way but for now just enjoy this one.**

**As always negative and positive criticism is welcome and apologies in advanced for grammatical and spelling mistakes.**

**Disclaimer **

**In no way shape or form do I own any part of DB/Z/GT. All rights reserved to the master Akira Toriyama.**

It had come to the end of his first week at high school and Gohan couldn't believe how easy it all seemed come. After his first day Erasa had insisted he'd join them during lunch times, introducing him to a variety of different people. Videl had been less intense thanks to his helping win the bet she had with Sharpner and Sharpner had laid off the 'brain' jokes. Probably most importantly of all he found the work to be easier than he'd expected thanks to the rigorous learning schedule he'd dedicated himself to over the past few years.

So all in all he'd say he'd gotten it pretty easy.

"So Gohan, tell us more about yourself?" Erasa peeked at him over her yogurt.

Gohan shuffled his feet under the table, "well what'd you wanna know?"

Videl fired in the first question, as Erasa thought of any questions she could ask.

"Why we're you home schooled for so long? What's the point in coming to school for only two years?"

Gohan genuinely thought of why but didn't completely know the answer, Goten had been sent to school with Trunks but Gohan had remained a home school student, working with Bulma and other tutors.

"well I guess I was originally homeschooled because my family lived deep in the mountains but when we came here I guess they thought it'd be easier to just continue to teach me at home,"

"Oh so you were a country bumpkin huh? I guess that explains why you're so quiet," Erasa giggled, "Do you have any brothers or sisters Gohan?"

"Yeah," he grinned, "two little brothers, one is 7 and the other is 8,"

"Oh! I have a little brother too, he's 8. And such a pain, he's always taking my things and hiding them away," Erasa clucked.

"I know what you mean," he agreed, "my brother Goten is constantly in my stuff except he doesn't hide them, it usually ends up broken or lost."

"Oh he must look just like you," she swooned.

He pulled on the strap of his bag to pull it onto his lap so he could dig into it to find his wallet, "wanna see a photo?"

Instantly perking up she smiled, "of coarse!"

Gohan opened up his wallet to reveal the pictures he had encased in the clear sleeve of his wallet, passing it across the table to Erasa.

"Oh how adorable!" she squealed, "is that you in the middle Gohan?"

Gohan nodded in confirmation. "That was at Gotens first birthday, he's the one with the beanie and Trunks is the one with the purple hair and the big man holding us is my grandpa,"

Erasa leaned over so Videl could look at the photo aswell, "Wow, your brother has an unusual hair color Gohan, I don't think I've ever seen someone with purple hair,"

"Yeah, he takes after his grandpa," he broke in.

"Who's the other photo of of?" Erasa asked curiously.

"That's my mom and dad outside of our house in the mountains," he answered.

Videl stared at the picture before her, eyeing the man clad in orange and black. His face looked oddly familiar but she couldn't quite put her finger on why or where she'd seen him.

"Did your family always live in the mountains before you came here Gohan?" maybe she knew him from one of her fathers friends. He was wearing a uniform so it could be possible he'd trained with him or something.

"Yup, my family had probably only seen the city maybe a handful of times," he answered, "I didn't even know what an elevator was until I was 8,"

Erasa passed back his wallet and he filed it back into his bag, "they're so cute," she smiled.

"Not when they're all hyped up, they can be a pretty big handful," he chuckled. They had no idea.

"Oh I agree, my brother has me ripping my hair out some nights," Erasa turned to boy next to Gohan, "Sharpy, have you decided what colors you want to put in your hairtonight?"

Since his losing of the bet that fatefulMonday afternoonSharpner had done little more than mope. The hair on his head had taken him years to grow and countless hours of treatment to keep it sleek. His hair was like a vale of confidence for him, he was convinced that it was one of the biggest things chicks digged about him.

"Why am I letting you dye my hair again?" he huffed.

"Well because you have to shave your hair anyway, you're doing the worlds greatest shave remember? And traditionally they colour their hair before the big day. Besides, girls totally go for guys who do things for charity," she wiggled her perfectly formed brows at him, knowing it was the ultimate way to get him to do anything.

The bell signalling the end of lunch rang and the others gathered all their things while Sharpner thought it over, "well I guess whatever colour you want," Erasa perked up, "but not pink," he interjected, already feeling like he was losing a chunk of his pride without having a head full of pink hair. Swiftly gathering his things he left the table with Videl as Gohan and Erasa walked just a ways behind them.

Erasa hooked her arm through Gohans as they walked, "Gohan, you gotta go shopping with us this afternoon kay? We need to get you new clothes,"

Gohan peeked down at the outfit he'd picked specifically for school, "but what's wrong with this?" he asked, gesturing to his clothes.

"Although they're very cute," Erasa hesitated, "they're a bit formal for school, ya know?"

Sharpner turned to look at the two, "she's right Gohan, you need some new threads. You dress like my dad,"

Not really seeing what the two were talking about he agreed to go with them, hoping like hell it wasn't like a usual shopping trip with Bulma.

"Come on Gohan! Sharpners going to drive us, he has a super sweet convertible," exiting the school grounds with Erasa he found the waiting Sharpner and Videl sitting in the parking lot, waiting for the two to join them. Gohan climbed into the back next to Videl and fastened his seatbelt while Erasa took up shot gun.

"I hope you're ready for actual hell Gohan," Videl spoke from his side.

Confused as to where that came from he furrowed his brow, "what do you mean?"

"Let's just say Erasa goes a little bit crazy when it comes to shopping," she explained.

"I do not, there's nothing wrong with being excited over a little make over," she beamed, "Oh I can't wait to take you shopping Gohan, I am going to make you Orange Stars new hottest thing,"

"Hey! What about me," came Sharpners indignant cry.

"Oh, behind Sharpy of course," she giggled.

Suddenly Gohan felt that this shopping trip was going to be very similar to one with Bulma. The only difference being that the attention to buy things wasn't going to be on her it was going to be on him, he was indeed in for an afternoon of torture.

Entering the mall thatFriday afternoonwas unlike anything Gohan had really experienced before. There were loads and loads of school kids there as usual the only difference being that he recognised a good deal of them and some even recognised him back, waving and saying hello as they passed. It was different for him to walk into any place and actually be known, especially by people his age, it felt normal and honestly, kinda nice.

"Oh! We have to go in this shop first, they have some really good shirts in here, the kind that make muscles pop," Erasa looped her arm through his once more and dragged him to the fore mentioned shop, the others in tow.

Upon entering the four split to look through the departments that suited them while Erasa screened through the aisles.

"What size are you?" Erasa asked, looking through a rack of shirts.

"Well I'm not really sure, my clothes usually get bought for me and I just wear whatever I get," he answered honestly.

Erasa manoeuvred her way around him, asking him to bend down a bit so she could check the tag of his shirt and then to his surprise she reached into the hem of his pants to reveal not only the pants tag but the top of his underwear.

"Erasa!" He croaked, feeling embarrassed at her seeing his boxers.

"Oh hush, how are we supposed to get you clothes if you don't know what size you are? It's totally obvious to me now that you needed my help," she joked, "now why don't you go sit on that comfy couch over there by the changing room and ill be over in a sec with some clothes for you to try on."

Still revelling in the fire that flared in his cheeks he turned away wordlessly and did as told while Erasa resumed her hunt for clothes.

Not too far away Videl watched him slump down on the chairs outside of the changing room. Since lunch time she couldn't get the picture of his father out of her head, it felt as if she had seen him recently but she couldnt put a name to the face. It was driving her crazy. She needed to know more, she needed to figure out where she knew him from. Putting on a calm facade she walked over to where he was sitting.

"Hey," she greeted, plopping down next to him, "already been benched? Didn't take long,"

"Yeah," he shrugged, "clothes aren't really my thing. It's probably better that I don't have a say in what I get."

"I used to tell myself the same thing," she chuckled, "Erasa tried to force me into skirts and crop tops so I usually refuse to let her shop for me. She's actually forbidden from buying me clothes now. Anything I can't train in, I won't accept,"

"You train a lot?" he asked, interested more at the thought of talking about fighting rather than clothes and shopping.

"Well yeah, you gotta keep up when your dad is the world champ," she stated, having no idea how much Gohan silently agreed with her, "you train?" she asked.

"A little, yeah," he answered, not really giving anything away.

"And is that something that runs in your family as well?" she reached, trying to push the topic towards his dad, "like my dad?"

"Well yeah, kinda," he vaguely responded, "my dad trained a lot,"

Videl silently rejoiced, if his dad was a fighter there could be a good chance she'd seen him before but before she could ask another question Erasa marched over with a handful of clothes, dumping them between Gohan and Videl she picked out two shirts and handed them to him before pushing him into a vacant changing booth.

"For now we'll pick five shirts from here before we move on to shoes and hats, pants and then after that we'll get you some new gym gear," she shouted from the other side of the curtain.

Unbuttoning his vest and shirt he tossed them to the floor before throwing on the first shirt. It was a very form fitting cotton blue v neck t shirt that he wasn't really sure he was comfortable wearing. The neck came down so you could see his pectoral muscles, the sleeves didn't go very far so it showed his arms and it was tight enough that it outlined every rounded muscle in his chest. Sure, his usual training gi showed a lot of his arms and chest but he only wore it these days when he was training. It also happened to be a bit looser than this particular shirt. He felt a little over exposed.

"Well? How does the first shirt look Gohan?"

"Erasa, I don't think I like this one very much," he admitted, looking himself over in the mirror, "I think I need a bigger size."

"What do you mean?" Erasa whipped the curtain open faster than Gohans reflexes could stop her, "it can't be-" stopping mid sentence she blanked at the person on the other side of the veil. It was like a completely different Gohan from the one who entered just a breath ago.

After a few seconds of Erasa silently searching over his body Gohan started to squirm and feel uncomfortable, pulling at the bottom of the shirt so it didn't cling to his body so much.

"I-I don't like this one," he decided, reaching for the curtain so he could take it off and escape the audience on the other side.

Erasa slowly turned on her heal towards her bestfriend, silently she sat next to her and whispered, "oh my god."

Although she wouldn't say it out loud Videl was thinking the exact same thing. The kid had looked like a scrawny little book nerd in the usual clothes he wore, where did all this defined muscle come from? Sure, she now knew that he trained but just how much? You'd have to have continuous training to keep muscles like that. Then again it made sense as to why he did so well during gym, he practically excelled at any sport they played, even the ones he hadn't even heard of. But if he was a skilled fighter at all she'd have to have known him but she couldn't recall seeing him before in her life.

Gohan silently exited the change room again in another top, this one being more conservative he disliked it a little less, although it still was a little more tighter than he preferred.

"O-Oh," Erasa stammered, "I like that one,"

"Yeah, it's a little more comfortable," he confided, "the sleeves are longer."

It took a second before Erasa moved again, digging through the pile of clothes she'd brought over with her. She picked through them, looking for shirts that didn't show too much. Not wanting to make Gohan feel too uncomfortable and eventually refuse to let her pick clothes for him like her other two friends.

"No revealing shirts, got it," she smiled, picking up one pile and leaving the other, "these ones are the longer ones that'll cover most of you, I know they'll fit so get changed so we can get the shirt you're wearing with these ones,"

Still trusting Erasa's judgement he did as he was told, coming out a few seconds later feeling a little more comfortable in his 'dad clothes'. Taking the pile from her hands he followed her over to the cash register, laying the clothes on the counter he reached into his pocket to retrieve his wallet. But before getting there Erasa handed over her own credit card to the cashier.

"Woah, hold on Erasa I can't let you pay for these, they're for me," he blurted before the payment could be processed.

"Oh don't be silly Gohan, I picked them, I'll pay for them!" she responded.

"Gee, that's real nice of you but I can pay for them. Trust me I've got more than enough money," he insisted, handing over his own card to the girl over the counter, "savings please,"

When Gohan had turned 17 Bulma had given him his own account with more than enough money to buy an island, insisting that he take it now that he was about to embark upon the world. Preparing him for exactly this situation, she wanted to make sure that if he ever made friends that going out to places with them wouldn't be a problem where money was concerned and he had a feeling she'd absolutely approve of him spending it on clothes. That little plastic card was her way of saying go out and be a normal teenager.

After that first store Erasa had pulled him into countless others, picking out everything from shoes to pjammas before finally suggesting they take a break and get something to eat.

Son Gohan wanted nothing more than to pig out, his stomach was violently revolting in hunger, having not eaten since breakfast. But he had decided long before he started school that it'd be better to not eat in front of his peers. He knew the amount he usually consumed in a day was enough to feed a small village and that was definitely something people would be horrified at. So instead of risking the thought of trying to torture himself by only eating a portion of his usual diet he opted to eat between classes and fill up in the morning but thanks to their spontaneous shopping trip he was starting to feel his energy dwindle.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm definitely feeling chicken luksa today,"

Gohans mouth watered, his favourite food of all things.

Videl went to hum her agreement before the watch on her wrist beeped to life, and the bedraggled voice of the police chief bellowed her name.

Switching immediately to guard mode she brought the device to her face, "what's the situation?"

"Unstable male perp has injured two people with a knife and he's now holding the quip store on O'Connor St hostage with a gun. It's still unsure as to why but we need your help ASAP,"

"I'll be there in 10," turning around she addressed her friends, "Sorry guys, some crazy is holding up a pharmacy. They need me now," and without another word she turned on her heel and sprinted for the car park where she could decapsulise her jetcopter.

"Be careful Videl!" Erasa shouted after her.

Gohan stood and watched as a very human teenage girl left to fight off a man who had a knife and a gun. He couldn't let her go alone, she could die.

The two blondes being used to Videls sudden departures continued to figure out what they wanted to eat while Gohan figured out how he could get away.

"Hey guys, I'm just going to the bathroom real quick. I'll be right back," and with that he dumped the multitude of bags he was carrying at the table they chose to sit at before swiftly walking towards the bathrooms that held the staircase fire exit. The one Vegeta usually used to get away from Bulma and her shopping trips.

As soon as he knew he was out of his friends eye sight he ran as fast as he could, throwing the fire exit door open and making a beeline for the roof top. Gohan stripped off his vest and then his shirt as he reached the open air, not taking the chance that someone would recognise him from his clothes again. Throwing them to the ground he let his energy flare and flood inside and out of him, washing him in a familiar golden flame.

Just a ways ahead of him he spotted a red copter which he assumed would be Videls. Thankful she hadn't gotten too far yet he leaped into the air and propelled himself fast enough so he'd be able to get there and defuse the situation before she landed at the scene. Rising up into the darkening sky Gohan made sure he was high enough that he couldn't be seen too easily and so he could get a Birdseye view of the city, helping him follow the flashing red and blue lights to the crime scene.

Soaring closer and closer he started his decent so that he could slip into the back door and take the man by surprise. With an ease and stealth that had taken years of training to obtain he slipped into the back storage room silently and cracked the door open enough for him to scope out the situation.

A handful of shocked shoppers we're seated on the floor, all tear stained and frightened eyes on one man who was frantically pacing back and forth. Muttering and whimpering to himself.

"P-Please sir, you have to let this man go, if he doesn't get to a hospital he's going to bleed to death," one brave man begged, kneeling next to another who was breathing deeply, covered in a sticky red fluid that was steadily leaking to the floor, "S-Sir?"

The offender continued to pace and talk to himself, assumedly not hearing a thing he had just said to him.

The Saiyan teen decided he could take his chances trying to defuse the situation peacefully. The worst that could happen is he starts firing that gun off at random but if it came to that Gohan knew he'd be fast enough to catch the rounds released.

Pushing the door open wide enough for him to step out he put his hands up in a gesture that would show he meant no harm, moving very slowly into the light of the pharmacy room and into the sights of the unhinged he waited for him to make the first move.

All eyes looked towards the glowing boy, including the perpetrators. He had stopped his pacing and stared, giving Gohan a proper look at his face.

His hair was disorderly and came in patches all over his scalp like he'd been pulling at it, his complexion was sickly and pallor making the purple bags under his eyes seem more swollen and apparent, like he hadn't slept for days. His lower lip quivered and his hand tightened around the weapon in his hand, visibly shaking while trying to make out who and what was in front of him.

Gohan didn't move a muscle in his body, after a long stretched minute where nothing happened he carefully and clearly spoke out.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he assured, "tell me what your name is," he gently requested.

He started to breath deeply at the sound of his voice, spluttering and stuttering like it was hard for him to form coherent words and sentences.

"It's ok," he reiterated, "all I want to know is your name, just take a deep breath and talk when you can,"

Huffing and unblinking he stuttered his name, "St-St-Steven,"

"Well Steven, I'm here to help you, ok? I won't move or do anything without your permission. All you have to do is tell me what you need," he explained.

"I-I can't breathe," he wheezed, "I can hear the voices, and they're shouting, they're shouting so loud! Always shouting and they're gripping at my l-lung," he screamed, pulling at his hair and restarting his frantic pacing.

"I need my medication, I need my medication, I need my medication, I need my medication," he chanted over and over again, "she wouldn't give it to me, she did this, I just need my medication,"

He continued to talk to himself as Gohans Saiyan hearing picked up on a commotion just outside of the shop. Something was happening, plans were being set into motion and he was running out of time to defuse the plight they were in. So he did the only thing he could do, set his own plan into motion.

Keeping his hands up he whispered down to a brunette girl a little behind him sitting at the entrance of an aisle, trying not to attract any attention, "I need you to find any kind of drugs you can get your hands on, painkillers, cold tablets, laxatives, whatever's closest to you that'll pass for pills."

She gave a shaky nod and reached up behind her, trying to steady her hand enough to read the labels on the boxes. Coming to something she deemed acceptable Gohan continued to give her instruction.

"I'm going to try something, I need you to do everything I tell you to do exactly word for word and no matter what happens you're safe ok? I'm right here," he assured.

Her lip quivered, she looked completely terrified but she nodded her agreement.

Gohan turned back, "Steven, I think we found your medication," he waited for him to stop moving and look at him before he continued, "they must have gotten your prescription mixed up with this lady here," he turned slightly to gesture to the girl behind him.

"S-She's got my prolixin?" He brittlely asked.

"Yes, she's going to get up and slowly bring it over for you to inspect, is that ok with you?" He knew it could be a long shot but if this man was in fact having a psychotic break and his words we're as jumbled as they were his ability to read the label would be just as hard to manage.

Steven nodded and the first sound he heard come from the girl behind him was a whimper, she was scared out of her mind.

As she passed Gohan looked into her brown eyes, "remember," he whispered, "I'm right here, you'll be fine as long as you do not touch him."

With legs feeling like jelly and her hands shaking uncontrollably she took one step after the other until she wasn't far from him, holding only a tiny portion of the box between her thumb and index finger she very slowly presented it for him to take, which he did immediately. Like a lion being offered a piece of meat. She staggered a few steps back so she was closer to Gohan, instantly feeling better once she could feel the warmth peeling off him.

They watched as the box in his hand shaked, he squinted desperately trying to make out the words floating around the label. Gohan could hear and feel the energy of a multitude of people surrounding the building so he took the next step, "you'll feel better once you take them," he insisted.

Putting down the gun Steven used both hands to open the box, pushing out two pills from the the foil they were in and greedily throwing them into his mouth. Closing his eyes he breathed heavily.

Gohan took that as his opportunity to inch forward a few steps, manoeuvring himself in front of the trembling teenage girl in front of him. He got closer and closer until there was only a small gap between them.

He spoke as slow and gentle as he possibly could, "Steven, do you know where you are?"

He needed for this man to make a reconnection with reality before anyone busted in here and set him off again.

He simply nodded, his eyes still jammed shut.

"I want you to open your eyes and tell me what you know isn't real and what is," he coaxed

"Y-You're not real!" he shouted, "people don't glow, you aren't real!"

Gohan was taken aback a bit, he hadn't even thought that he could consider Gohan just another illusion of his mind but it made sense. He wasn't in his right mind at the moment and of course seeing a glowing man in the middle of an episode wasn't going to seem real.

"I am real, all the people in this room can see and hear me just as clearly as you can," he insisted, "you're not crazy," Gohan looked around at the hostages and they all murmured their agreements.

"I want you to reach out your hand and touch mine and after you do that I want you to slowly open your eyes to look at me so you know I'm real," Gohan extended his hand and patiently waited for a response.

Unsteady and hesitant Steven did as he said, bringing up a shaking fist he slowly unclenched his grip to brush against Gohans palm. His eyes instantly opened.

"I'm just as real as you are, I swear it. Even the others in this room can see and touch me as you are right now," he breathed.

The twitching man still didn't look convinced.

Once again Gohan turned to the girl behind him, feeling like he was asking so much of hertonight, "I need you to put your hand on me, please,"

Feeling safe enough in his presence to do it she complied, slowly walking over she put her hand on his shoulder, making sure her fingers were over enough for Steven to see.

She looked him the eyes, "h-he's real," she whispered.

Steven visibly relaxed at the confirmation, his shoulders slumped and he dropped his hand back to his side, "the voices have stopped," his eyes drooped with exhaustion and sparkled with a glimmer of a tear, "I just want help, I want it to stop,"

Gohan let a breath out and turned to the girl behind him, "thank you," he sincerely told her before turning back to Steven, "You aren't alone now, we can get you help that'll save your life."

But he had spoken too soon. Forgetting about the police force that had surrounded them they chose that moment to barge in and before Son Gohan could register it there was a shower of bullets before a coarse 'get down' was shouted throughout the room.

The only indication he got was by the sting of a shell that had just hit his temple but by then it was too late for him to do anything. Stevens breathless body thudded to the floor and a shriek of pain sounded behind him.

Gohan turned to catch the girl who had just been holding his shoulder, she was now yelping in pain, clutching her side where a steady stream of blood was soaking into her shirt. He dived over to protect the rest of her from the rain of bullets that hadn't stopped even though Steven had been taken out.

Gohan looked over into the face of a man who'd been asking for help just a second ago. His lifeless eyes still holding the sparkle of a tear that never got the chance to fall.

"STOP!" He thundered, "STOP, YOU'VE KILLED HIM ALREADY"

His aura pulsed, effectively getting their attention and stopping the raid of metal. He pushed himself up over the girl who was under him, her eyes dropping and breathing becoming shallow and laboured. Gently he scooped her up into his arms, needing to get her to Dende quick, she was only minutes away from death.

"He was sick," he grounded out, "begging for help, he wasn't even armed anymore!"

The officers stood silently, only one stumpy man daring to speak up and answer.

"Well how were we supposed to know that son, all we knew is that there were innocents in danger," the police chief tried to reason.

"You could have assessed the situation first before blindly firing your weapons off," he took a deep laboured breath in, feeling the loss of a life that could have been saved, "he was mentally ill and asking for help. You didn't need to kill him. Everyone deserves a chance to redeem themselves,"

With that he turned and made for the door.

"U-Uh Sir, you can't take her," stammered an officer stationed by the entrance.

"If I don't take her to get healed right now she will die," Gohan simply pushed past him and powered through the sky. He couldn't help the one lost life but this innocent girl wasn't going to die. Not today.

Rocketing through the cold night air he headed straight for the lookout where Dende was waiting for him. As always already knowing the situation.

Mr Popo rolled out a mat and Gohan gently placed her down and moved away so Dende could do his work.

"I can heal the wound but she's lost a lot of blood. She won't wake up for a little while," Gohan nodded, thinking it was for the best. He would take her to a hospital where she could be monitored and taken care of.

As soon as Dende was done Gohan thanked him whole heartedly, leaping off the edge of the lookout and taking the sleeping girl to Satan City hospital, where someone would surely identify her and make sure her family knew where she was.

Keeping his golden aura to disguise himself he dropped her off and flew as fast as he could back to the shopping centre, having forgotten about the friends he'd left there.

Touching down on the rooftop Gohan powered down, picking up his discarded clothes on the ground and shrugging them on over the blood that'd dried up on his skin as he jogged down the flight of stairs. Re-entering the food court he'd spotted Erasa and Sharpner sitting where he'd left them, their meals finished and long forgotten.

"Gohan! Where have you been? It's been half an hour, we we're so worried about you!" Erasa chided.

"Sorry guys, I'm still new here, just got a little lost that's all," he shrugged, putting on a calm facade, "Videl not back yet?" he asked, trying to change the subject. Not having seen her at the scene.

"No," Sharpner answered, "she sounded pissed when we talked to her though, I don't think she's coming back."

"Right," he murmured, "anyway guys I'm pretty tired, I think I'm going to head home ok,"

"Sure, need a lift brains?" Sharpner offered while cleaning up their table.

"Nah, my house is pretty close to here," he lied, "I can walk"

And with that the three exchanged their goodbyes, Gohan hoisted his pile of bags onto his arms and made his way back to the roof top where he flew back to the compound, entering through his bedroom window so as not to attract any attention. He wasn't sure he had the energy to keep up with Goten and Trunks right now.

Dumping his bags to the floor he discarded his clothing and jumped in the shower, ridding the dried blood that was caked to his chest before going down for dinner.

Boy did he have a story for the familytonight.

Videl touched down onto the crime scene just long enough to witness a golden and glowing boy tear through the sky, leaving only the flash of golden fire in his wake. Videl was quickly briefed on what had transpired in the past 15 minutes upon her arrival, left with a million question burning the tip of her tongue she marched up to Hudly, Chief of Police.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" she snapped.

"Sorry Videl, the situation seemed critical, we had to act," the chief explained, "we didn't know the situation."

"Well as its your job as chief of police you know better than I do that you should have assessed the situation before barging in," she scolded, "you should have waited for my arrival, I could have helped you unwire the situation instead of killing a man that could've been helped and just where the hell was that guy taking the girl?" she added. "And why was he here? How did he know about this?"

The poor stumpy man was buried in a tightly packed mound of questions that he didn't really know the complete answers too.

"Well I'm not sure where he was taking her, he told Arnold that she needed to be healed so maybe a hospital. I've already sent officers to ask at the three closest hospitals so we just have to wait until she turns up," he paused, "I'm not sure how he got here, maybe just passing by? And as for why I'm not sure either, we didn't know he was here until we broke into the pharmacy."

Videl thought it over, who the hell was this golden fighter and what business did he have taking injured people away from the medical help at the scene. That girl could be dead for all they knew and if he was as fast and powerful as the rumours said why hadn't he restrained the perp before the situation got out of control? And where exactly did he get these magnificent powers? Last time she checked people couldn't fly or glow. Videl had so many burning questions that only one person could really answer. She was going to find him and she was going to get to the bottom of it all.

"As soon as you find the girl I want to know immediately," she demanded, "as for right now I want to interview anyone that had a good look at the golden fighter,"

Hudly simply nodded and retreated leaving Videl to call her friends and let them know she was ok and not coming back. She had a long weekend of investigating to do.

**Well that's it for this one, next chapter will be up soon and if you wanna check out any of the pictures I've drawn (not fantastically soz) go to the link on my profile or simply search: queenkai95 on deviantart. **


	4. Chapter 4

**So here's next chapter, this one is kinda a filler episode of the story but I wrote the next chapter after this one to be posted along with it so when you're done with this one just go straight to the next. **

**As always your criticism is welcome and valued. Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: I in no way own any plot lines or characters of DB/Z/GT, all rights reserved to the master Akira Toriyama.**

"What do you remember about the Golden Fighter?"

Videl sat in a room on the third floor at Satan City Hospital. After spending a good portion of last night reviewing the Quip shops footage identifying and hunting down the mystery girl she finally found herself sitting next to her hospital bed with only 3 hours of rest.

"Well apart from the glowing he had crazy green eyes. Kind of like a mix between green grass and the ocean," she wheezed, her voice croaky from misuse, "he was so calm, like he had everything under control. He was so patient and compassionate with the way he handled that guy y'know? What happened to Steven by the way?"

Videl blinked in surprise, how did this girl know the name of the assailant?

"Unfortunately he was shot and didn't survive," she answered.

Videl watched as the girls face fell slightly, "well that's a shame," she whispered, "he just seemed like a messed up guy."

"What do you mean? You feel sorry for him?" she asked in disbelief.

"O-Oh, well I suppose he did hurt people didn't he?" she mumbled, "but he didn't mean to, well I mean I don't think he did, just before it all kinda faded out he was asking for help. I think that's all he really wanted, it's so sad.." she trailed off.

"The man stabbed two peopl-"

"He was mentally ill," she cut off, "people with mental illness only snap like that when they didn't get treatment."

Videl had never known anyone with a mental illness so it was hard for her to understand where she was coming from. So she decided to leave it and move on.

"My apologies," she offered, "was there anything else that you can tell me specifically about him? Like a tattoo or a mark? Anything at all could be useful. Even a clothing tag or symbol."

Picking at the food that was brought in for her she thought about it, "well.. there was a moment where he had me touch his shoulder and he had marks all over his back. The most noticeable one was here," brushing her long wavy hair to the back of her she reached behind her right shoulder and gripped where her arm met torso, "kinda like an indent, like it was out of place once."

Videl dictated what she was saying into her notebook before continuing the interview, "anything else?"

"Hmm, well no not that I can remember at the moment," she confessed.

"Ok," she flipped a few pages back where she had a list of questions, "do you remember anything from after he took you? Like where he took you?"

"Unfortunately no, I was out cold at that point. I wish I knew where he did take me though," she said thoughtfully, "come check this out," the brown haired girl motioned for her to come closer to the bed as she lifted her hospital gown up to reveal her side, "I got shot by a bullet right here," she pointed to a soft little pink spot on her side, "there's not a scratch left."

Videl inched forward to get a closer look, not seeing a thing. It hadn't looked like she got shot at all, "maybe you didn't get shot," Videl conceded, finding it the only logical explanation.

"That's exactly what the doctors thought, they did X-rays on me last night when I came in and found the bullet still inside me and I've never been shot before. Besides, I don't think I'll ever forget the pain I felt when that bullet pierced my skin so what ever that guy did to me it saved my life," she marvelled.

"Right," Videl pondered, still not really believing her she flipped to a new page of her notepad and started to jot down her contact details, "if you should remember anything else you think might be helpful call me, ok?" she ripped the page from the notebook and handed it to her. Picking up her bag she made for the exit.

Suddenly an influx of people came pouring into the room, a rather elderly lady squawked so loud at seeing the young girl that it had set a poor sleep deprived Videl on edge. A mother, a father and three young children entered and surrounded her, hugging and kissing her on the head. Videl continued on her way out when the doorway was clear.

"Wait! Hold on Videl,"

Stopping at the hinge of the door she turned back to give her attention.

"If you should ever find him, will you please thank him for saving my life?"

Videl stood there and looked at a whole room full of people that were in sheer bliss right now, holding someone that was very dear to them that had come only inches from death, and for the first time she could see why everyone put the golden fighter up on a pedestal. He had saved this girl from dying and he had tried to save everyone in that store, including the man who was keeping them there. Videl simply smiled.

"Anna, if I should ever find him I'll call you and you can tell him yourself," she promised.

Anna beamed at her and Videl took her leave, disappointed at the stalemate her investigation had now hit. What could she do.

-.

Bulma knocked at Gohans door, it was close to mid-day and the teen hadn't so much as poked his head out of his room yet. The two youngest were due to finish up their training session with Vegeta soon which meant lunch time.

"Gohan I'm coming in," she pushed the door open to a slumbering Saiyan hybrid and to her surprise a mass of shopping bags littering the floor. The curtains were closed tight and the only light in the room came from the clock on the bedside and the corridor where she stood.

**'**Woah,' she breathed, 'when did Gohan go shopping? And at some great stores too,' she noted the logos on the bags. The blue haired heiress shuffled through the mound of shopping and over to the curtains where she wrenched them open without hesitation.

"Rise and shine!" she sang, walking over to his bed and fluttering down at his feet.

"Eeeeeeeemmmmmmm," he moaned from under his pillow, shielding himself from the light. Slowly but surely he rolled himself over so he was positioned on his back, bringing his hands up he rubbed at his sleepy eyes.

"Oh come on now, it's almost midday Gohan!" leaning down she picked up one of the bags and ruffled through it, pulling out silky navy blue pjamma bottoms, "by the way did you buy all these fabulous clothes all on your own?" ruffling through another she plucked out two button up t-shirts, one grey and one purple.

Using his elbows to hoist himself up Gohan sat up and then continued to rub at his aching eyes, "My friends forced me to go shopping," he cawed, his voice husky from sleep.

"Go figure," Bulma remarked facetiously, "seven years and I can barely get you to help carry my shopping but one week of high school and you're a regular shopaholic!" she playfully slapped his leg.

"It's not like that at all!" he lightheartedly defended, "I was totally forced into going. I don't even know what's in those bags to be completely honest with you."

"Don't worry Gohan, somehow looking at these clothes I believe you," she chortled, "hey what's that?" Bulma noted a heap of clothes on the floor between the bathroom and window, spotting the white shirt he wore to school with stains of blood.

Gohan followed her line of sight, "oh yeah, you weren't at dinner last night so you missed the story."

The blue cut mother whipped around, "what happened? Did something happen at school?"

"No, no," he waved his hands at her, "it was after school while I was shopping. Do you know who Videl Satan is?"

"Someone related to that idiot Hercule Satan?" she guessed.

"Well yeah it's his daughter," he revealed.

Bulma was struck with the image of a teenage girl with an oversized forehead and a scalp full of frizzy black mop. Poor thing.

"Well she's one of my friends and she works for the police force see," he explained, "and she gets randomly called away when there's something big going on and yesterday they said it was a guy with a knife and a gun! She's a regular human, she could have died so I tried to beat her to the crime scene but it didn't all turn out so well."

"What happened then when you got there? Where did that blood come from?" pointing at the heap of clothes in question.

Gohan thought back to the memory of the night before, the same lifeless picture of Steven that had kept him up almost all night flashed through his head once again as he relayed the story to his adoptive mother. He told her of all the things Steven had said to him and exactly what he'd done, stopping his recount just after the police barged in.

"So they just ran in and shot him?" she resentfully asked.

"Yeah, they didn't even aim for him either. Just in his general direction, I got hit in the head by a bullet!" he said in disbelief, still miffed at their actions, "they also managed to shoot the girl that was holding my shoulder. If I didn't take her to Dende she'd be dead right now."

"You took someone to the lookout!" Bulma squawked, "Gohan you know regular people can't know about the guardian and Korins tower. It'd cause so much trouble, what were you thinking!" she huffed.

"Woah Bulma don't worry! She was out cold the whole time," he promised, "she really was on deaths bed and I couldn't let her die," he argued, "she wouldn't have been shot in the first place if I hadn't got her to stand behind me and I can't stand the thought that someone innocent would die because of me."

Bulmas brow was still furrowed but she thought it over. She couldn't really blame him for trying to do the right thing, he was just trying to save a life.

"You're so much like your father Gohan," the creases in her forehead eased, "if you say she was out cold then I believe you but you need to remember the rules of this house ok? Do not let anyone find out who you are and what you can do, if it gets traced back to Capsule Corp it could be disastrous."

"I know, I'll make sure it doesn't," he smiled reassuringly at her.

"Right, anyway sleepyhead, you need to get up because lunch should be ready now and I'm not sure I will have the energy to keep those two trouble makers from devouring everything after they get out of training." she pushed herself off the bed and made for the door.

"Did I really sleep in that late?" he puzzled looking over at his bedside clock.

"Yup, you better hurry and get up I think I just heard Goten run for the kitchen," she giggled as she watched Gohan tumble out of bed and to his feet.

"Lead the way," he grinned.

-.

Videl Satan was in a more than irritable mood made worse by the lecture her father was running over her for what felt like the thousandth time.

"Daddy I told you I hate going to those events, those reporters are so pushy. It's always, 'Videl who are you dating' and 'Videl which brands do you shop for' and don't even get me started on the more pervy reporters. One guy asked me for a shot of my underwear daddy! You can't seriously want me to go through that!" she complained.

Each time her father requested her appearance at an event or interview and she refused it was always the same argument. He would argue she needed to be apart of more social gatherings to generate more interest in their family. For some reason they always needed to be in the spotlight.

"But baby girl, you need to increase your presence in the media. The world demands to know the daughter of the strongest warrior in this world," Hercule insisted, "I know some questions we get seem absolutely out of line but you just gotta ignore them."

Videl gave an irritable sigh, "Dad, those type of questions are almost the only ones I get asked. If I'm not being interviewed at a crime scene then people want to know little else about my work and career as a fighter. I just don't get the same respect you do and it's just irritating!" she yelled, pushing her dinner plate away from herself, "I don't want to go to the movie screening dad, I watched the final cut with you just a few days ago. I'm not going." she firmly stated.

Hercule folded his arms in a mirror fashion to his daughter, showing her he was just as unwilling to budge in this argument.

"Listen sweat-pea, I'm not trying to be a villain here, you already know that you're one of the strongest on this planet so why does it matter if they don't ask you those questions. You could simply go and not answer anything they ask," he offered, "all I'm saying is show up, take a few pictures and sit down and watch the movie one more time. I'm not asking the world of you, just a few hours of your time."

"It does matter that they don't ask me those questions," she muttered, trying to look away from the intense stare her dad was giving her. That last part he had uttered made her feel like she owed him this one because he was right, he wasn't really asking the whole world of her. "Fine." she finally relented, looking back to her father.

"You'll go?" he asked in surprise, it was very rare that she let herself get cornered into such things.

"Yes but if I get asked so much as one tasteless or idiotic question I in no way promise that I won't pummel that person and their stupid microphone." she warned, "Deal?"

"Deal!" he thrust his hand across the table to his daughter which she reluctantly shook, "although if someone has the kahunas to ask you questions like that you'll be lucky if I don't pummel them first!"

"I'm going to regret this aren't I." she uttered to herself.

Hercule returned his attention to his plate and continued to dig at his meal, revelling in his small victory, "so what's been happening with you past few days hun? Heard there's a new case with the force you're investigating."

Again Videls mind was forced to think back to the Golden Fighter, it'd been almost 24 hours since the start of her personal investigation and she'd only come up with little tidbits of information. She hadn't even seen the guy before and couldn't even get a clear image of him from any of the security film. So she didn't even have a clear vision of what the kid looked like, only going off what others had described him to be and any of that information was yet to prove useful.

"It's really my own personal case dad. But I haven't found any leads yet," she sighed, feeling the weight of the amount of sleep she'd missed.

"Well I'm sure you'll figure it out in no time. Nothing gets past my Videl!" Hercule gave his little girl a dopey grin and it actually proved to make her feel a little better. Even when she couldn't believe in herself her dad would.

"Thanks daddy," she got up and kissed him on the cheek, "I'm going to train for a little bit," she told him before walking away. There was nothing else she could do about the Golden Fighter and she needed to get her mind off it so she decided she'd spend her time more wisely by training for the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament.

It was only four months away.

-.

"Hey Trunks check this one out!" Goten and Trunks sat at their table in the library, two photo albums open and completely covering Gotens homework.

Trunks leaned side ways and brushed the hair from his face to find what exactly his friend was trying to point out to him.

"Oh man!" he yelped when he spotted a very rude picture of his baby self in a bath. Lurching for the book Goten quickly yanked it away from his reach, laughing hysterically at Trunks red cheeks.

"There sure are heaps of photos of you in this one Trunks!" Goten giggled continuing to flip through the third photo album he managed to find in the Briefs private library.

"Goten, we're supposed to be in here studying remember!" Trunks exclaimed, still trying to reach for the book.

"I know but these photos are so much cooler!" he decided, "I found heaps of my daddy and even some of my mom. Do you think your mom will let me keep one Trunks?"

"One photo album?" he asked.

"No! A picture." he sighed in exasperation.

"But Goten you have a photo of them in your room," he reminded him, "the one Gohan gave you."

"I know but I want another one," he pouted.

"Well I guess she probably will but probably not if you don't finish your homework," he reasoned, looking pointedly at his best friend.

"Yeah you're probably right," he relented, "I'll do it when I finish this one, I swear."

Trunks went back to his multiplication as Goten hummed to himself while flipping through the pictures. Even though he already had a picture of his parents it was hard for him to picture them moving and living and talking or even breathing. It was like they never existed and that's how Goten felt whenever he looked at the lone picture in his room. The more photos he saw of them in these albums the more it felt like they were real, like he really did have parents and he liked that. He could picture what his mommys clothes felt like and imagine what his dads voice sounded like with each picture he saw of them.

"Hey Trunks look at this," Goten pushed the book over to Trunks and pointed to the top corner that held a picture of what looked like Trunks but much older cradling baby Trunks in his arms, "he looks like you!"

"Hm?" he leaned over once more to see what he was talking about only to become speechless, "woah"

"Who do you think that is Trunks? He looks a lot like you!" he chirped.

"I-I don't know," he pulled the book closer to him so he could see better. He had the same coloured hair, a perfect match, the same long and pointed nose and probably most notably the same intense eyes Trunks had inherited from his father.

"Maybe he's like an uncle or something?" Goten offered, "like your moms brother."

"Goten I'm pretty sure my mom doesn't have any brothers otherwise we would have met them by now." he deducted.

"Well then who is it?" he asked.

"I told you I don't know, probably just a random relative," he waved it off returning to his multiplication, "come on Goten if you don't finish your homework we'll never get to play and if you're not done by the time I'm done I in no way promise to leave you any of the cookies that mom baked for us before we started this," he waved his worksheet in his best friends face and he snatched it from his hands.

"Nuh-uh Trunks that's not fair!" he objected.

"Life's rarely fair," he retorted, not really knowing the true meaning of his statement only hearing it enough from his father to know that it was effective.

Goten grumped down in his chair, closing the photo albums and setting them aside for later he and Trunks continued on with their homework.

-.

Gohan and Bulma sat in the warmth of the saturday afternoon sun that streamed through his bedroom window, searching amongst his haul of shopping on the ground, looking at the extensive range of purchases he had brought home.

"Oh Gohan these clothes are just fabulous," Bulma squealed, "you are going to look so handsome in these pants and dress shirt. I can already imagine you now on your first date an- Oh my god!" she abruptly squealed, "these shoes match perfectly with these too!" she cried, "Really Gohan you have to bring this girl over I am in love with her already. In fact invite them all, I want to meet all of your friends!" she confessed.

Gohans eyes widened. He couldn't bring them over here, if he did he'd be forced to explain his living situation to them. It was hard enough being the geek of the school without being the rich orphan aswell. He just didn't need that. Not to mention he doubted he'd be able to hide the supernatural beings that resided in this house. It was an idea that just had too many faults to pan out smoothly.

"Um but Bulma don't you think it'd be a little problematic to invite over normal human beings, especially Mr Satans daughter, into a house full of aliens?" he tried to reason, the idea not sitting completely right with him.

Rummaging through another bag the heiress thought about it, "we can probably get rid of them for a few hours," she reasoned, "I can pull a few favours with Krillen and Eighteen and drop the boys off there for a little while and I'm almost more than certain that Vegeta will stay well away by his own choice."

"Ok.." he chewed it over a second before presenting his only and final problem with the idea, "there's just one last thing though."

"And what would that be hm?" she challenged, ready to solve any potential problem in the way. She really wanted to meet his new friends.

"Well I haven't exactly told anyone about where I live or who I live with.." he began.

Bulma sat among bags and boxes, giving Gohan her full attention she waited for him to elaborate.

Pinching the fabric of a shirt between his fingers he rubbed at it absentmindedly while he talked.

"As far as anyone knows I live with my mom and dad still. Not that I tell them that because I don't like it here!" he quickly reassured Bulma at the sight of a crease forming on her forehead, "it's just easier for me to not have to explain it. Then there's also the fact that I live with the richest person on this continent." he sheepishly looked at her, trying to configure the right words to convey what he was trying to say in an inoffensive way, "Im still the new kid and let's face it I'm weird enough as it is without having one of the greatest scientific pioneers as my adoptive mother." he shrugged, "I've really only just started to get to know these guys, I don't want to overwhelm them too much, y'know?"

Gohan gripped at the shirt, straggling it in his hand while he waited for Bulma to reply. She looked thoughtfully at the teen before her, understanding what he was saying.

"I think I know what you mean, I guess we can wait a couple more weeks," she relented, to Gohans surprise. He was expecting her to demand they come over no excuses. Seeing his confused expression she went on.

"When I was in my senior years of high school I was a few years younger than the others. Being the genius that I am I skipped ahead a few grades, people thought I was an absolute freak." she frowned, recalling her own time at highschool, "it was hard enough for me to fit in being a brainiac without everyone knowing who my dad and capsule corp was. So I can understand not wanting to scare the friends you've made away."

Gohan was surprised. In fact he was more than surprised, he was astonished and in complete awe at the person across from him. Growing up with Bulma he had always perceived her as a fearless, beautiful, witty and confident person, it didn't make any sense for people not to love her.

"People thought you were a freak?" he questioned, still toying with the shirt in his hands.

Bulma chuckled, "Yeah, not my happiest years. Kids can be so cruel y'know?" brushing the hair from her eyes she gave him a smile, "but I guess it's not all bad. I did meet your dad because of school. Well indirectly in a way I suppose."

Many times had Gohan heard about the great adventures his father and Bulma had, they were recounted to him as bed time stories when he was younger.

"Is that why you wanted to wish for a boyfriend? Because you had trouble at school?" he bravely asked, this had been a component of the story that he and his dad collectively had never understood. Why did Bulma want the Dragon Balls to find a boyfriend? That seems like such a weird thing to wish for, especially for someone who seemed to have it all.

"Well yeah," she confessed, "all of the kids in my grade were so much older than I was and still looked at me like I was a little girl but the guys that were my age were really immature and I seriously couldn't turn up to my prom alone! Can you imagine how embarrassing that would have been. Especially for someone like me!" she dramatically cried, "besides it was kind of hard to differentiate between the people that actually wanted to know me as opposed to those who wanted money and info on my family. So when I found that first dragon ball I had really already decided what I wanted."

Gohan mulled it over in his head, he supposed it kind of did make sense now. It would have been hard to make friends and it would have been lonely. Especially for someone like Bulma who needed and demanded a lot of attention.

"I think I understand, but," Gohan started to giggle to himself as he thought about Bulma's wish.

"But what? What's so funny?" she asked, cracking a grin at his mirth.

"Do you think if you actually got the wish you wanted that Vegeta would have been dropped in front of you by Shenron?"

Bulmas own chuckle joined in with Gohans, "I suppose it's possible, my wish was for someone who'd match me perfectly," she laughed playing out the situation in her head, "can you imagine his face though when I would have told him I was his girlfriend? It would have been priceless."

Gohan burst out in laughter, imagining a confused teenage Vegeta being plucked from the galaxy to only be toppled in front of a bossy and ill tempered blue haired teenage human girl demanding he play with her hair and hold her hand and attend her silly little earth social function.

Bulma imagined exactly the same thing, starting to cackle at the thought. The two sat together and just laughed.

"I would have destroyed you and your whole planet witch," came a gruff voice from the hallway.

The two snapped their attention to his direction but continued to snicker.

"Oh honey, were you eavesdropping at the door?" she pawed.

Vegeta indignantly turned his nose up, "If you're asking wether or not I heard you had no friends and was so desperate for companionship that you had to wish an imaginary mate up then yes, I heard."

Bulma raised her eyebrow and planted her hands on her hips, "guess I would have had the same amount of friends at that time than you've had your entire life," she playfully jabbed.

"That's not true," Gohan chimed in, "I'm your friend right Vegeta?"

As expected his eye twitched as he grumbled and the two doubled over in a fit of laughter.

With only a growl in his wake he turned and marched away.

"Wait where are you going!" Bulma shouted after him, watching his retreating form leave the doorway.

"Shower."

Feeling playful Bulma heaved herself up onto her knees and then used her hands to push herself to her feet, "wait for me!" she jogged after him leaving Gohan to sort out his new clothes.

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that," he mumbled to himself, "just lock it away Gohan."

Gohan continued to go through the clothes he had gotten. He had been looking for the right ones to wear to school on Monday, with Bulmas expert eye helping out, so that he wouldn't disappoint Erasa and bring on an unbearable onslaught of fashion classes. Shopping was one thing but he didn't think he would be able to survive sitting through the dynamics of clothes and accessories.

"Hey Gohan have you seen mom?" Trunks head popped around the door frame, a smudge of ink on his cheek.

"Yeah, she's with your dad," he grimaced, "you probably don't want to see her right now."

"Why not?" his gaze seemed penetrating and deadly serious, wanting to know the exact reason he shouldn't go see his mother right this second.

"They're just having alone time," he answered in the most honest and innocent way possible. No way in hell was he giving anyone 'the talk'. Not today satan.

"Oh you mean kissy kissy stuff?" he screwed his face up.

"Um yeah," he answered, wondering how much Trunks really knew, "so what'd you want your mom for sport? Anything I can help you with,"

"Nah, I was just finished my homework and need my mom to sign off on it," he shrugged, "guess ill just wait for her to come out." he decided.

Gohan nodded along to what he was saying, thinking that option was probably the best, "I'm guessing Gotens not finished his homework yet?" he concluded, figuring it'd be the only reason he hadn't joined them yet.

"He keeps getting distracted by the photo albums in the library," he clucked, "he's like super obsessed with finding the perfect picture of your mom and dad."

Gohans brows furrowed, "why?" he asked, to which Trunks simply shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe he just wants another photo of them. Well that's what he said anyway."

Gohan thought about it, "well I guess I can't blame him."

The two fell silent and Trunks lingered by the door, hesitating before speaking, "Gohan can I ask you something?"

Gohan threw the shirt he had been looking at back into its bag before turning back to face Trunks, "of course you can," he motioned for him to come in and sit in the spot his mother had just occupied, "fire away champ."

"Well," he started, moving away from the door to come and sit on the floor across from Gohan, "a really long time ago my dad told me something and it only just came back to my mind today and I just wanted to ask you about it because I'm a little worried Goten might find out," he explained.

"Well it can't be that bad?" Gohan reasoned, figuring there couldn't be any truths that could hurt his brother too badly. Well apart from the whole Santa not being real thing.

"I remember asking my dad about how you and Goten fit into our family if we weren't really brothers and he told me mom adopted you two right?"

Gohan nodded, patiently waiting for Trunks to tell his story and make his point.

"Well then I asked him about your mom and dad and why we couldn't just wish them back with the dragon balls and he said with your mom we couldn't but.." he dropped off, feeling somewhat guilty for bringing it up with Gohan and almost feeling regretful of what he was about to say, "he said your dad didn't want to come back." he quietly finished, fidgeting with the bag in front of him.

"W-Well yeah" he stammered, not expecting that at all, "I guess I could see why you wouldn't want Goten to find out.."

"I think he'd be really sad," Trunks said to his feet.

Gohan agreed. He himself still wasn't completely neutral with that information aswell and it'd already been 7 years since. Every now and then he'd see Vegeta with Trunks, usually training, and caught himself thinking about how his dad could be doing that with Goten. Or sometimes the thought of him would pop up randomly when they were eating dinner or swimming or when either of the Sons had achieved anything. Every time he thought about his dad it usually brought him the thought of warmth and happy memories but he always got the bitter after taste knowing that he really could be there with them right now enjoying and participating in their lives but had chosen not to. Some days it left him in really sour moods. Ones that only Goten could pull him out of. So he couldn't and wouldn't have a clue about the way that information could affect his little brother.

"Well I suppose Goten will eventually find out," he frowned, not liking the thought of it, "but I think it could definitely wait until he's older. For now we should just try keep it between us as long as we can," he leaned down and waited to capture Trunks downcast eyes, "deal?"

Trunks offered him a half smile, "deal. But if he in some way finds out I take no responsibility and if he's upset he's sleeping with you! The kid kicks in his sleep."

"Don't I know it," Gohan chuckled. His little brother had taken to sleeping with others when he had a bad day or was upset. He even managed to wriggle into bed with Bulma and Vegeta once, until he had accidentally kicked Vegeta square in the nuts and he'd been thrown down the hall to Gohans room and barred for life.

"Truuuuuuunks,"

"Speak of the devil," Gohan grunted and turned towards the door, spotting his spikey hair in his archway, "hey Goten,"

"Gohan!" barrelling into the room he jumped into Gohans open arms, "look at this!" he presented a brown leather book to his brothers face.

"What is it?" Gohan asked, having a good clue already after his and Trunks conversation.

"A photo book that has heaps and heaps and heaps of photos of everyone!" Goten turned around to sit down and settle in his brothers lap, "Look at this one Gohan!" he opened up the book a quarter way through, flipping back and forth a bit to find the right page, until he stopped and found one where one big photo took up an entire page.

"That was right before we fought Cell," Gohan murmured.

Trunks had crawled over so he could see, Gohan opened up one of his arms to let him lean in closer, resting his hand on the lavender Princes' back.

"Hey that's me!" Trunks pointed to Bulma who was lovingly staring at the boy in her arms, just a ways behind Vegeta who stood in the centre with Goku, Gohan and unbeknownst to the youngsters, Future Trunks. The four powered up to Super Saiyan, posing for the photo.

"Aw man, I wish I was in this photo. Gohan you look so cool," the little tyke marvelled.

Gohan leaned down and to the side so he could look at Goten, "but you are in the photo." he pointed down to their mother who was next to Bulma cooing at baby Trunks, "our mom had you all wrapped up in her belly."

"I wish I would have been born before though," he murmured, tracing over the image.

"Why's that Goten?" Trunks turned to his bestfriend.

"Because then I could have a photo of me with my mommy and daddy, like Gohan! And so I can be older than you," he poked his tongue out at his friend but Trunks just looked up at Gohan, a weighted seriousness in his eyes.

"Well I think there may be some photos of you and mom when she was pregnant with you, she was as big as a whale," that comment would have gotten Gohan a great big slap with his mothers frypan were she here to hear it. The thought made him smile.

"Really?" Goten perked up, twisting himself around to face his brother.

"Yeah, they're in our old house. We have heaps of photo albums you can look through that were moms that you can have," he squeezed his little brother, "how about me, you and Trunks go camping out in the mountains where we used to live next weekend? I'll decapsulise our old house and we can get the photos and ill take you both to meet the dinosaurs and to where I train with Piccolo."

Both demi Saiyan boys eyes lit up with excitement.

"Do you mean it!" Goten shouted.

Gohan felt the happiness spread through him at the sight of joy on both boys faces, "of course I do! But," he looked at him seriously, "you have to go finish your homework now and whatever homework you both get next week needs to be finished on Friday night so we can spend all weekend away, ok?"

The two jumped up immediately.

"Come on Goten! I'll help you finish your homework." Trunks offered him a hand up and they were both gone within seconds. Now all Gohan had to do was talk it over with Bulma.

"Are you about to tell me that Vegeta and I are going to have the whole weekend next week to ourselves?" but it seemed he didn't have to tell her.

"Well uh yea-" was as far as he got before the blue diva swept into the room and took his face in her grip, planting a sweet kiss on his cheek.

"You beautiful boy," she sighed before leaving just as swiftly as she'd entered. No doubt going to relay the good news to her other half.

So it was all sorted, next weekend he'd spend it among his brothers at the beautiful place he and his father had grown up. It was going to be the experience of a lifetime for his little brother, he'd make sure of it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Two chapters in a row? I'm on fire. Enjoy and review! Good and bad opinions always welcome.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of DB/Z/GT, I'm merely using them for my own entertainment lul all rights reserved to Akira Toriyama. **

"All right kids, I know how much you've all been looking forward to sex and drug awareness week," Mr Egbert drawled to the gym full of teenagers, with just the tiniest hint of sarcasm, "today we're going to start off with a few talks and demonstrations, later some videos and just before lunch we have a special guest who's here too. Which you all should be very excited for," looking over the top of his clipboard, he let his spectacles fall down his long nose as he leered at the children who looked anything but excited.

Suddenly the gym doors fell open and a very late Videl slivered in, "sorry, police emergency," she shrugged as she tried to spot her friends among the crowd.

"As I was saying," he coughed, trying to recapture his audiences attention, "each day we will focus on a different subject."

A series of groans sounded through the gym and Gohan looked around, not understanding why that sounded so bad. They were out of their classes for most of the week, if anything they should have been ecstatic.

Erasa caught the look on his face and giggled.

"What's wrong Gohan?"

"This thing can't be that bad can it?" he whispered to her.

"Well I guess it's better than being in his class," Erasa nodded over to the slowly balding teacher in front of them, still going on, "but these things can get a little boring sometimes."

Gohan nodded as he watched his other blue eyed friend jogging up the stairs and shuffling through the row over to where they were seated. It'd been the first time he'd seen her since the shopping mall and she looked pale and tired.

"Hey guys," she smiled at them and they slid over as much as they could so she could squish in next to Gohan, "hey Gohan," she nodded.

"Hey," he simply replied, taking in the bruises and scratches on her legs and arms. Had she gotten into some altercation this weekend in the city? She looked drained.

Sharpner neither greeted her or really acknowledged Videl, for today was the day she was due to reap the fruits of the bet they'd cooked up exactly one week ago. He was in an absolutely foul mood Gohan had found when he'd tried to say hello this morning. Other than a mutter here or there he'd hardly spoken or done anything but scowl and mope.

"Who do you think they're going to get to talk this year?" Videl whispered to the group.

"I don't know, but I pray to god it isn't that sexual harassment bear again. I mean it's not like we're 8 year olds." Erasa ranted.

Gohan looked at her confused, "sexual harassment bear? Like an actual bear?"

"Y'know for a genius you really aren't all that bright," Sharpner grumbled.

Erasa lightly elbowed the boy next to her, "don't be an jerk," she pouted at him, not liking the mood he was in one bit. "No Gohan, a guy in a bear costume comes around to tell us about the dangers of drugs and sex," she explained.

"Oh," his cheeks reddened at his blunder, "but that sounds so silly," he remarked.

"No, it's ridiculous," Videl corrected, "it's like these teachers think we know so little about drugs or sex that they need to baby us."

Erasa snorted out a quiet laugh and cackled to her friends, "I'm pretty sure we know more about sex than him," she nodded her head to Mr Egbert who was still droning on.

The comment proved to get a snicker out of even Sharpner, "the man does have four kids though so who knows," he shrugged, "he could be just the guy you're looking for E." nudging her with his arm he laughed when she scrunched up her face, shivering in disgust at the thought.

"No way hosay," she exclaimed, taking on a glazed over look, "when I find a guy he's going to be totally dreamy. Smart, sweet, funny, nice, exotic and he totally has to have that V line thing guys have," she pointed down to the bottom of her stomach, making a V formation with her hands.

It had been no secret that this blonde bomb shell was picky with her men. In all her years of high school she'd dated only one guy from the long list of admirers she'd managed to draw up. The same went with Sharpner in a way, the guy loved to have his admirers but rarely did he indulge in the girls that followed him around like puppies, they just weren't what he wanted in a girl. Then there was the feisty blue eyed Satan, she didn't need to reject any guy who'd even think to try. Her father made sure they didn't even think of it with his 'no date unless you're stronger than me' rule and sometimes she was actually grateful for it. So together the trio had become the untouchable and sometimes cold hearted clique but it only served to drive people crazier over them.

Videl rolled her eyes, "I don't think such a guy exists Erasa,"

"Hey!" Sharpner indignantly cried, "Im practically everything she just described."

"Yeah, except the whole smart and funny." she quipped, "were you even listening Sharpner."

"Oh so you think I'm sweet and nice?" he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Videl just blanked at him, "in no way did I say that. You are so delusional." she tried to lean over and take a swipe at him when he didn't stop suggestively leering at her only to be stopped by someone clearing their throat at the groups antics.

"If you don't mind Miss Satan," came the expectant voice of their English teacher.

She squeaked out an apology and the group settled.

"Hey Vi, you could get your dad to do it. I bet he'd love it," Erasa chuckled.

"Listen to my own father talk about sex? No thank you," using her finger to make a mock gun she put it to her mouth and pulled the imaginary trigger and the three laughed, settling into their place and eventually zoning out of the class.

-.

"Alright, it's come the time to introduce our very special guest."

The teens had just filed back into the gym after first break and were still settling in, the quintet of friends taking a closer seat to the front. Unfortunately, they were some of the only ones left on the bleachers.

"I hope you're all excited kids because we've got one of the greatest sporting legends coming to talk to you today,"

Some of the kids actually looked up in anticipation, Gohan wasn't sure if it was just the excited pitch to their coaches voice that lifted the room up or if it were the surprise of their special guest. He guessed that most were just hoping it wasn't this bear guy they were talking about.

"So Orange Star High give a very warm welcome to our guest, Captain of the mighty Titans, Yamcha!"

Gohans mouth hit the floor, along with a big handful of people who were now following the said hero as he plow into the doors smiling and waving as an eruption of cheering and girly sighs filled the room. Some of which, came from dudes.

"Oh my god Videl!" Erasa grabbed her friends arm and shook her violently, "it can't be a coincidence that we talk about my dream man and Yamcha shows up," she squealed.

Gohan looked over at his two friends, Sharpner looked absolutely star struck and Erasa practically had hearts protruding from her eyeballs. In fact he took a scope of all his fellow classmates around him, surprised at the amount of fuss they were making over Yamcha. He'd always known the guy as a fellow fighter and a friend and now it seemed absolutely crazy to him seeing a crowd go almost ballistic just at the sight of him.

Jogging over to their coach he watched as Yamcha clasped his hand and shook enthusiastically, saying a quick hello before being offered the microphone. Taking it he turned to the teens which continued to cheer and he smiled and waited for them to calm a bit before talking.

"Hey guys! How you all doing?" he beamed out at all the kids before him and they erupted into a frenzy again, "oh thank you, thank you, I'm so humbled," he genuinely said bowing at them, holding a hand over his heart as he searched over their faces.

Gohan sank down in his seat, for the moment he didn't want his old friend to see him and call him out in front of everyone. He'd get his chance to say hello later on, after all he'd be here for the rest of the week.

"Do you guys like the uniform?" he used the microphone to motion over his clothing and held his hand up as the kids cheered, "thought I'd debut the teams new uniform just for you," he gave them a charming smile and waited for them to settle completely.

"Now you all know why I'm here and I know how boring these things can get but trust me, I have a few ideas that'll help today go by a little easier and faster and we'll have a bit of fun while we're at it, I'm sure," he promised as he paced back and forward before the crowd, keeping their attention with each step.

"Through out the today I'll be telling a lot of stories, some that are my own and some that are from a few friends of mine and I ask you all that you be respectful and not ask about some of the people in these stories. Some of them are embarrassing and crazy and I'm sure they'd probably like to remain anonymous." he smiled at a few of the girls in the front row as he walked past them. Their eerily sighs making their way up to Gohan.

"Looking at you all I'm reminded so much of myself," Gohan snorted, he'd heard the stories and he knew damn well Yamcha had come nowhere near being a normal teen or even attending a school at all.

"And one of the greatest things I remember about being your age was my first girlfriend," a lot of coos and wolf whistles arose from the crowd and he sheepishly waved them off as he continued, "it was probably the greatest time of my life to be completely honest with you. We were young and everything was so new and exciting that we probably rushed into a lot of things we shouldn't have. One of them definitely being sex," under his baseball cap he wiggled his eyebrows as a lot of girls all but fainted where they sat.

Son Gohan turned beet red. Yes he had heard the stories but not this one, nor did he want to hear this one. He knew perfectly well who Yamcha was talking about and it just so happened he had to see and speak to that woman every single day. He didn't want to be hearing about Yamchas sex life let alone his adoptive mother.

"And that brings us to our first topic, contraception!" he announced, "when I was 17 I had my first ever pregnancy scare and scare me it did," he admitted, "did you know 'the pill' isn't 100% effective against unprotected sex? Because man-oh-man at the time I sure didn't," the way he huffed it out earned him a giggle from the crowd and Gohan felt his mind shake at that little piece of information, trying to imagine what Bulma and Yamchas child would look like and what their lives would be like right now with this kid in it.

"When I was your age I hadn't really talked to any girls at all before she had come along," he stopped when he heard some of the girls and guys snicker at him doubtfully, "what! It's true, I swear. I was too shy to even look at a girl let alone talk to one,"

"Awww that's so sweet," Erasa sighed, leaning dreamily into Videl who rolled her eyes. In what way that was sweet she didn't understand.

"So when it came up to my first time I had no clue about contraception. Rubbers, the pill, diaphragms, they were all just as much a mystery as girls were," he confessed, "so after that first scare my girlfriend sat me down and explained all there was to know. To be completely honest with you it was kinda crazy, she had pictures and diagrams and even little flash card thingys," he laughed along with the kids in the gym, even Gohan had to chuckle at that one, it definitely sounded like Bulma.

"But I guess in a way without it I wouldn't be standing here in front of you now giving you this talk. So I know that I don't have to tell you that abstinence is the only 100% sure fire way to make sure you don't get pregnant right?" at the sound of the groans coming from the guys Yamcha held up his hands, "hey, I'm not saying that's what you should do, I'm no saint myself but I'm just saying its the only 100% way." Yamcha held up his hand and counted off the methods, "the pill, only 92% effective. Condoms, 98% effective. Diaphragm, 94% effective. With the rod it is 99.9% effective but there's still a chance of reproducing and then I'm not going to even bother talking to you about the withdrawal method because quite frankly anyone stupid enough to try that method shouldn't be having sex." he swatted his hand left and right to wave the line of thought away, "Anyway kids, if you're using one of these methods then fine, good, I'm glad you're taking some precautions but be aware that it doesn't always work so be careful."

Yamcha solemnly ran his eyes over the crowd once more, giving them a moment of silence to let it sink in before continuing.

"Of course a lot of these methods will not keep you from contracting STIs or infections from some of your sexual partners as its passed on through things such as blood, or semen, which can only be combatted by-" Yamcha turned around and walked over to a box that was sitting by a lonesome whiteboard. Juggling the microphone into his other hand he picked up the box and shook it, letting packets of bright multi coloured foil wrappers spill onto the ground, "-these!"

Walking down to one far end of the group of teens he handed the box to the guy on the end, "condoms my friends. I want you all to each take one, yes," he firmly stated, "every single one of you and while that's being done I'll take a few questions,"

A sea of hands shot up into the air and he looked around, picking the students at random.

"Dude, did you really lose it at 17?"

"I did. What can I say I was a ladies man," he chuckled, "I kid. No but seriously, I was really sure about this girl. She was a one of a kind and I loved her." he pointed for a red haired girl to speak in the first row.

"How do you know when you should have sex with someone? Like be sure about it," A tinge of red blazed across the girls face as she squeaked the question out.

"When you know you love them." he immediately answered, "I know that's not always how that's going to work out," he offered, "but if you feel like this is a big decision or step for you in your relationship all you have to do is ask yourself this, do you see yourself still with that person in a few years time and if it came to it would your relationship be stable with a child thrown in the mixture. If the answer is no then I guess you've got your answer right there." he smiled down at the shy girl and covered the microphone with his other hand, "helpful?" he whispered to her and when she nodded he moved on.

Gohan had to admire the way his long time friend held the rooms attention, the first few hours had been anything but exciting. In fact it was down right scarring. They'd watched a birthing video which Gohan was sure he'd never ever forget but Yamcha was peaking the kids interest and making it a little less awkward. Well for everyone else he guessed, he still wasn't stellar at the idea of hearing about his and Bulmas sex life. In fact he wasn't looking forward to the moment the guy noticed him and realised he'd been airing the dirty laundry to him the whole time.

The box had now made its way over to them and Sharpner was digging through the contents, searching through what they had. Pulling out a shinny brown wrapper he grinned, "sweet."

He handed the box to Erasa and she did the same, only stopping when she pulled out a pink one and handing it to Videl who just plunged her hand in and grabbed one at random.

"Oh! Twinsies," Erasa giggled seeing Videl had the same strawberry flavoured condom. She did not look all that amused.

Gohan mimicked Videls approach and quickly grabbed one before passing it along. Turning it over in his fingers he studied the label curiously.

"What's wrong nerd boy? Having trouble figuring what that's for?" Sharpner cracked and the two females in turn looked at Gohan who's ears were starting to turn red.

"I-I know what these are for!" he indignantly spluttered, "I was just wondering why they're flavoured." he finished.

"Hm, that's a good question, lets ask!" And before Gohan could do a single thing Erasa's hand shot into the air which apparently Yamcha didn't miss as he picked her immediately.

"Hi, my friend Gohan wants to know why condoms are flavoured." she motioned over to the teen boy in question who's jaw had gone slack, when Yamcha didn't immediately reply he looked over at his old friend heralding the mic.

"Gohan is it?" A devilish smile played upon Yamchas lips and Gohan tensed, feeling the hairs on his neck rise, "sounds like a good name, no doubt a family name huh?"

Clearly not entertained at whatever Yamcha found so funny he stuttered, "Y-Yeah," he felt the eyes of the students on him and he wanted nothing more than to strangle Erasa and her big mouth.

"Flavoured condoms were designed to promote safe oral sex, I mean think about it. The only reason it'd have a taste to it would be to taste it and as I said semen can pass on STIs. Yes, even through oral sex. So, Gohan, I'm glad you asked," he grinned at him the whole while, "something you wanna know for your girlfriend?" he questioned, looking at the girl beside him. Of course with Gohans luck the dark haired girl in question hadn't missed it and was now turned away from him in a huff to show she was not his girlfriend and she was not ever going to do that to him. Or anyone for that matter.

It was impossible for Gohan to turn any other deeper shade of red. It felt as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his head and he could feel it pulsing in his brain, so full that it was going to explode.

Yamcha had to hold himself together, he was on the verge of bursting out in laughter but he knew if he were to do that in front of the rest of the kids it might seem a little insensitive and they wouldn't feel comfortable asking him questions anymore, so he moved on to another question throwing Gohan a cheeky glance every once in a while.

"Alright so it seems we've only got a few minutes until you guys head off to lunch so I think we'll leave the demonstration for afterwards,"

Videl Satan shot her hand up after he was finished speaking and he immediately called on her.

"Can I borrow your microphone a quick sec?" Videl requested, "I have an announcement for everyone,"

Yamcha simply shrugged, looking around for any teachers that'd protest to her holding the stand for a sec. So quickly shuffling through the crowd she came down to stand next to the legendary baseball player who handed her the microphone.

"So as most of you all know," she addressed her classmates, "Mr Sharpner and I had a bet last Monday afternoon that still needs to be cashed up." she stared right at the guy in question, a horrid grin settled on her face.

Sharpner went rigid in his seat, he hadn't forgotten the bet but as the day went on he was hoping she did. Apparently not.

Pulling out a capsule from her pocket she threw it to the floor as it produced a nice comfy chair and one small stand next to it that held an electric razor and a pair of scissors.

"Since we all know Sharpner has a weird attachment to his hair," Sharpner indignantly shouted out from the crowd, causing a series of giggles, "he's decided to do the worlds greatest shave. So if you want to stay and donate or just stay and watch the fun you're all welcome too. In fact if there aren't any objections we can start right now,"

She looked around at the teachers standing in the hall, when her coach nodded at her from the door she smiled and walked over to the chair.

Yamcha held out his hand with an amused smile on his face and Videl returned to him the microphone.

"Sounds like a bit of fun," Yamcha turned to the crowd, "I know I'll be sticking around for that, in fact, I'll donate 10, 000 Zeni to you if you let me cut your hair myself," he offered.

Now it was Videls turn to hold her hand out for the microphone, "I will also donate 10, 000 Zeni if I can cut one half and you cut the other half," she suggested to the baseball player, holding the microphone to him for his answer.

"You got yourself a deal Miss," he grinned at her and she in turn craned her head around to grin at Sharpner, "ohhhh Sharppyyy," she sang as she motioned at the chair in front of her.

Sharpner didn't move, mortified beyond belief. He knew he was going to have to get the haircut but not in front of his entire grade and one of the Baseball lengends that he'd looked up too his entire life. He could feel the expectant eyes on him but he just couldn't will himself to move.

Sensing his hesitation Yamcha took the microphone again, "tell you what big guy, I'll sign and give you my new baseball hat so that if the haircuts that awful you can just cover it up," reaching up he pulled the hat from his head and waved it at him, coaxing him to come down.

Erasa laced her fingers through his and tugged on his hand gently, giving him that last push he needed to get up. Sharpner stood but he didn't let go of her hand and she didn't pull it away from him. He led both of them towards the stairs and the crowd started to cheer for him, providing further encouragement. Erasa turned and motioned for Gohan to follow, so he did.

"Alright everybody, give the man a round of applause!" Yamcha coaxed and the crowd continued to cheer and clap for him, Yamcha joined in as he watched the guy slump down to his doom, two friends in tow.

Videl met them half way between the stairs and the chair, linking her arm through Sharpners free arm she all but dragged him over and pushed him into the chair while Gohan trailed behind. His and Yamchas eyes locked and he grinned at him, holding out his arms he all but attacked the poor teen and scooped him into what looked like a bone crushing hug.

"How the hell have you been kid," he pulled away to hold him at arms length, clapping him on the shoulder, "you've gotten so tall, you look just like your dad!"

Gohan smiled at him, "if you think I look like dad you should see Goten," he snickered, thinking about the little tyke.

Gohans three friends gawked at him from the side in disbelief. In fact the whole hall was looking at him in a similar fashion. Here was nerdy brain boy Gohan who knew possibly the most famous baseball player of all time. Yamcha could run faster than a bullet and had an eye sharper than a needle, his games were legendary.

"Videl that's not fair!" Sharpner suddenly yelped, "you had nerd boy on your team last week who obviously knew how to play," he motioned over to where he stood with Yamcha. Scandalised at the thought of being cheated out of his hair.

"Well how was I supposed to know that," she scowled, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest, "a bet is a bet Sharpner, you lost fair and square. Don't be such a baby,"

"Aw come on," Yamcha approached the riled up teen, "to be fair I've only ever played one game with the kid before. We're old family friends and that's about it. Swear."

Reaching up he plucked his hat from his head and tossed it to Sharpner where it landed on his lap. Pulling out his wallet he pulled out the fore mentioned donation and dropped it into the hat. Following suit Videl did the same thing and to his new friends surprise so did Gohan, it wasn't the same amount as the other two but the kid practically emptied his wallet out for him.

Videl took up the mic again, "if anyone else would like to donate just come up and drop it in the hat but otherwise just sit back and relax."

Scooping up the pair of scissors on the table Yamcha presented them to Videl, "ladies first," he gave her a charming smile and she eagerly swapped her microphone for the new tool. Flashing Sharpner her most devilish grin she came to stand behind him and sectioned his hair into two, coming onto the left side she laced a healthy amount of hair between her fingers and held the scissors in position, patiently waiting for her mark to go.

Sharpners eyes fluttered closed as his breathing started to become heavier. Coming up to his side Erasa gently took in one of his hands and he squeezed it while he waited for that first snip.

"On my mark," Yamcha grinned at Gohan as he came to stand next to him and the crowd began to cheer, "get set, and snip!"

Videls fingers came crashing down, the hair now separated from Sharpners head fell to his shoulders and arm and at the sensation he let out a small squeak that was audible to only those in his immediate reach.

Lowering the microphone to his sides Yamcha leaned over to Gohan, "promise not to mention to Bulma about the condom question if you promise not to tell her about the story I just told everyone." he whispered to him.

Gohans cheeks flushed a faint shade of pink, "deal." he croaked.

Videl continued to cut at her half of Sharpners hair and the gym laughed at the look on his face. A steady flow of teenagers jogging up and dropping in their own donations every few seconds while Sharpner desperately tried to concentrate on anything but the present moment. But hearing Videl snicker behind him and his precious hair constantly falling to his exposed shoulder made it extremely difficult.

Videl cut at random pieces and in random formations, truly making a complete mess of the poor kids hair and before long she was handing Yamcha the scissors and he set out to give the kid a nice new Mohawk while Erasa raked through the crowd to borrow some gel.

By the end of his own personal nightmare his eyes had come open but his breathing hadn't slowed, he clutched the hat that was overflowing with money with a grip that'd probably choke the life out of someone as he waited for Erasa to produce a mirror and reveal the damage.

Rummaging through her back pack she pulled out her compact and came to Sharpners side, holding it open.

Taking a deep breath he looked to his left, "oh god," he cried, on the verge of having a fit, "oh god no!"

On his left side he had patches of hair that stuck out at every which angle and on his right side the hair had been cropped short and then come up to a line of hair that'd been spiked up into a mohawk. He looked like he'd been thrown into a vortex and just lost his hair on the way.

Turning to his long time hero he picked up the electric shearer on the table next to him, "please, take it all off. It looks like I've taken every kind of drug you could imagine and then decided to move into an apartment with 27 cats."

Laughing at his choice of words Yamcha looked over to the girl who seemed to be in charge of this operation. Once she gave him the nod he took the tool and came to stand behind him.

"Oh man how did you even get yourself into this," he chuckled down at the guy in front of him.

"Videl and I had a bet during gym last week," he muttered, feeling the razor starting to comb through the mess that was his hair, "If her team won the baseball game then she got to give me a haircut, if my team won she'd have to go on a date with me."

"Damn dude, tough luck," he sympathised.

"Yeah well I wasn't expecting nerd boy over there to be a pro," he complained, setting his arms over his chest.

"Who Gohan?" he asked, brushing off some of the hair falling on Sharpners clothes and back.

"Yeah. You'd think that someone with brains like him wouldn't know the first thing about baseball," he reasoned, "tell me honestly, did you ever train him? Because he was pulling out some amazing moves last week."

"I don't doubt that," he said more to himself, "but I can say truthfully that I've never trained him in my life. As I said, we're family friends. I've known his dad since he was a little boy so I've known him basically his whole life."

Not far to the side a similar conversation was happening between the two girls and Gohan.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us you knew Yamcha!" Erasa whined.

Gohan held his hands up, "well I didn't know he was famous,"

"What! Do you never watch tv or read a magazine! He's basically one of the hottest bachelors on the planet." Erasa shot at him to which Gohan just sheepishly shrugged.

"How do you know him exactly anyway?" Videl mused, watching the man in question in an animated conversation with Sharpner.

"Him and my dad have been friends since before I was born," he confessed, "I've more or less know him my entire life."

There it was again, his dad hammered his way back into Videls already cluttered mind and was poking at her brain. She had to have known this guy, if he was friends with some of the big leagues then she had to have talked or seen him at least once or twice. Enough so that he bugged the hell out of her.

"Did your dad play baseball?" She encouraged, trying to get him to talk and tell her more.

Running his hand through the hair on the back of his head he thought, "only once, he was awful though." he chuckled, thinking back to the time Yamcha had shown the whole gang how to play baseball during the time they were preparing for the androids. Even Vegeta had eventually joined in, not being able to suppress his competitive nature.

Videl glowered when it seemed she wasn't going to get anything more than that. Why was this guy always so low on detail when asked about absolutely anything. It made him downright suspicious in her opinion. Should they really be hanging out with someone that seemed like he didn't want to let them know who he was.

Her train of thought derailed when the school cheered for Sharpner once he stood and brushed all the hair from his clothes. Erasa immediately skipped over and asked to run her hands over the fuzz that was left of his long locks.

Turning to the crowd she brought the mic back to her lips, "Thank you so much to everyone who donated their Zeni today, we managed to raise a tonne of money which we will drop in today after school."

Coming up beside her Sharpner motioned for her to pass him the microphone, " Yes, so glad you could all be here for the fun," he sarcastically commented, "but now that thats all over and we have probably 5 seconds til lunch time Yamcha and I want to invite anyone who's up for a game of baseball to meet us at the cage. I'm looking at you boys," Sharpner pointed up to a group of boys sitting in the back row that Gohan had come to know as Sharpners muscle friends. They practically lived and breathed sport and the gym like it was the only things they knew.

Well to be fair it probably was the only thing they knew.

As if on cue the bell rang and teens started to shuffle out of the hall in bands, most groups heading in the same direction so they could watch the anticipated game.

Yamcha came up behind them and clamped his hands down on Gohans shoulders, giving him a friendly shake, "well if you got those guys I bags Gohan," he grinned, "and you girls are welcome to play with me too if you like."

Erasa nodded vigorously but Videl had a different idea, "thanks but I think I've put Sharpner through enough today, think I'll stick with him," she playfully elbowed her tall friend who had a playful smirk playing on his lips, running his hand over his head.

"If you think you're off the hook that easily you can forget it," he flicked her arm as he turned to follow the crowd out of the hall, "I'm going to get all the equipment for the game, meet you at the cage."

"I'll come with you," Yamcha offered, coming up to walk beside the now freshly shaven Sharpner and restart their earlier conversation.

"I'm going to go throw the donations into my locker so they'll be safe," Videl emptied the caps contents into a plastic ziplock bag, giving it a firm shake she reached up onto her tippy toes and forced the cap onto Gohans head.

"Give that back to baldy will you," turning on her heel she strided towards the door, "meet you on the fields!"

Erasa and Gohan shrugged at each other and made their way out. Seemed their first day of sex and drug awareness week hadn't gone too bad after all.

-.

"Oh my god I can't believe it Gohan! Yamcha, the Yamcha! Actually asked me to do an internship with their team! Do you know what that means buddy?" Sharpner all but shaked poor Gohan for all his worth, "IT MEANS IM APART OF THE TITANS TEAM," he shouted, overcome with joy.

"Oh man what a day!" He continued, brushing off the new hat he'd received, "I don't even care that my hair is gone, I am loving my life," proudly he placed the cap on his head and Erasa slivered her arm through his.

"Oh I'm so happy for you Sharpy! Please god promise to take me to at least one practice! Pleeeeasse," she begged.

"Maybe not my first one E but once I've settled in you can come whenever you want," he promised, walking arm and arm with her out of the school, "hey, you two want a lift home?"

he turned around to Videl and Gohan for an answer.

"Sure," Videl continued on with them, "coming with?" she asked the young Saiyan.

Throwing his hand to the back of his head he looked anywhere but at his friends, searching for any excuse.

"Uhh, yeah, actually I have to pick up my brothers today," he gave them a nervous chuckle.

"Do they go to Satan Primary School?" Videl curtly questioned.

"Well yeah bu-"

"Then you can come with us. If you walk from here you wont make it in time before they get out and besides Erasa lives right by there." Videl left no room for argument and Gohan found himself dragging his feet behind them. Praying that if they dropped him at the school it'd end there.

But he was wrong.

Sharpner pulled up to the curb and not only had Gohan swiftly exited the car but so had Erasa and to his questioning gaze she simply shrugged, "Videl said I lived near here. No sense in making Sharpy drive me two streets down when I could just walk and look," she pointed to the school gate that now had a mountain of children and parents pouring out of it, "you so wouldn't have made it here in time if you walked."

Before he could answer her a blur of legs, arms and hair attached themselves to Gohans chest and leg so fast that the poor blonde hadn't seen it coming.

"Big brother!" the youngest cried out from his leg.

Wrapping his arms around the lavender bundle that he'd now identified as Trunks in his arms he leaned to the side and peered down to where Goten had latched on.

"Hey kiddo," he happily returned the big grin his baby brother had glued to his face, "how was school boys?"

Goten launched into a step by step recount of his day while Trunks yanked on Gohans shirt, asking for his attention.

"Gohan who's that?" he whispered, twisting around to stare at Erasa who immediately squealed.

"Gohan, are these your brothers!" she excitedly asked.

Gohan set Trunks down to the ground and gently untangled Goten so he was standing next to his bestfriend.

"Yeah, Erasa these are my little brothers," he introduced.

Goten immediately ran to her and hugged her around her middle, "hi I'm Goten!"

Without missing a beat Erasa wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, "oh you're so adorable!" she chirped, "cute must run in your family huh Gohan," she sent a cheeky wink his way.

Pulling back just enough Goten looked up into her face, "are you my brothers girlfiriend?"

"GOTEN," Gohan pulled the boy away from her, his cheeks painted in a nice pink as Erasa just giggled.

"Wha- ow! Gohan, that hurts!" he cried as he was forcefully pulled back to Trunks side.

"what about you?" Erasa crouched down to Trunks and gave him a warm smile, "what's your name?"

"I'm Trunks," he stated, folding his arms across his chest just as his father would. Maybe a good ten more years and the stance would seem more commanding but Erasa thought he looked absolutely adorable.

"Yoohoo!" A sweet blonde woman waved over to the four, pulling in their attention as she glided over to them.

"Grandma Panchy!" Trunks yelled running for her, Goten right on his heel.

"Hi boys, how was school today?" she cooed at both boys, patting their heads endearingly as she listened to both of their stories of boring old school with the weakling humans. It didn't take her long to notice the teens standing just a step or so in front of them.

Gohan walked over to say hello, Erasa by his side, "hey Panchy," leaning down he kissed her on the cheek, "how was your vacation?"

"Oh! It was darling, New Zealand has to be the most beautiful place on this planet Gohan," leaning around him to see Erasa she smiled at her, "Gohan who is this gorgeous girl?"

"Oh," stepping out of the way so the elder Brief could see her properly, "this is my friend Erasa, we go to school together."

"Oh she's so cute!" she squealed, reminding Gohan of exactly two minutes ago when Erasa had said just the same thing about Goten.

"Oh how sweet of you," Erasa waved off, "I have to say though that you look nothing like a grandmother and can I just ask where did you get that shirt from? Its fabulous,"

"Oh Gohan I love her already," she cried, bringing her into a warm half hug.

Goten walked over and tugged on her shirt, trying to get her attention. Hugging him to her side she looked down at him, "what's up honey?"

"Grandma, can you make us cookies when we get home?" he flashed her his brightest smile and she giggled.

"Of course I will! Anything for my little darlings." she cooed, "in fact I'll cook dinner for the whole family now that I'm back. How does that sound?"

The mere mention of their grandmothers food sent the youngest two saiyans into a fit of joy, "you're welcome to join us as well Erasa, we'd love to have you!"

And without skipping a beat she enthusiastically accepted the invitation, much to Gohans dismay and before they knew it they were crammed into the car and on their way to capsule corp.

Trunks climbed into the front and the two teens and Goten sat in the back, Goten sat in the middle holding Erasa's hand while he animatedly told her about why dinosaurs were so cool.

Meanwhile Gohans mind was in a frenzy. What was he going to do? How was he going to get a second alone to tell the boys not to do anything weird? How was he going to hide Vegeta away from her or at least warn him not to be an ass or how was he going to explain where he lived or why he lived there and most importantly how was he going to be able to get his room cleaned up without her seeing the mess it was in right now. He was a guy and a teenager but he didn't want her to think he was a slob, his mother had raised him better than that.

Pulling into the gates Erasa all but clung to the window, goggling out at the grounds they had just entered. Beyond the gates and the guard tower lay a massive garden area that seemed to extend onto its own forest of trees. There were pathways that led you through gardens of wild flowers and fountains and then finally at the centre of it all the biggest house she'd ever seen in her life. That was saying something considering her bestfriend was Videl Satan.

"Oh my lord," she whispered.

Panchy stopped in front of big double glass doors, letting the four kids jump out while she returned the car to the garage. One after the other they entered into a foyer that held three separate staircases, Goten and Trunks waved at the receptionist as they went for the stairs on the right while Gohan nervously watched Erasa snap her head in every which direction, not believing a single thing around her.

"THIS." She motioned to everything around her, "THIS is your house? You live here?"

"Well yeah," he smiled, "shocking huh,"

"Shocking!? Shocking is not the word for it Gohan!" she gapped at him, "what are your parents rocket scientists or something?"

"Well kinda but not quite," echoed a voice from the steps that the boys had just disappeared from.

Erasa's eyes bugged out of their sockets, her jaw fell open as she gasped at the woman before her.

"B-Bulma Briefs, you liv-what is this a dream, I can't eve-BULMA BRIEFS." she turned on Gohan, "Did you just casually forget to mention that you live with Bulma friggin Briefs!" she wailed, throwing her hands up "I am so underdressed for this Gohan, how could you do this to me!"

Coming up behind her Bulma put a soothing hand on the startled girls shoulder, "oh honey you're dressed fine!" she came around and pulled her into a hug, much to Erasa's surprise, "you must be Erasa, Gohans told me all about you." she smiled up at the teen boy as she pulled away from the flustered girl.

"He did?" she blinked at him.

"Yes of course, well only after I asked about you. I figured all those fabulous clothes he'd brought home definitely wasn't his doing. Which by the way I want to thank you for!" Sliding her arm through Erasa's she pulled her towards the stairs and together they began to ascend, Gohan in tow, "you have no idea how much I've struggled to get him to go shopping for himself, it's a nightmare."

And so the two began to talk shop and Gohan used it as his opportunity to slip away while she was distracted. At his fastest speed he skidded down the hall to his room where he grabbed every single item on the floor and flung it into his wardrobe, throwing everything off his bed he threw the blankets back on and straightened them out before putting the pillows back where they belonged and just before he exited he pulled the window wide open in hopes it'd bring fresh and clean air in before he made the inevitable journey back here with Erasa. Dumping his bag onto the bed he searched the compound for his little brother, locating him and his twin in their adjoined bathroom changing into their gi's.

"Hey boys, I need you to do me a massive favour."

"What's wrong big brother? You look all messy and tired," Goten observed.

"I'm fine. But I need both of you to not fly, use your ki or talk about saiyans for the rest of the afternoon ok? Or well for as long as Erasa's here," he quickly explained.

"Aw but we wanna play!" Goten whined, pulling on his left boot.

"I know but we can't let Erasa see any of those things, she'll freak out!" he exclaimed.

"Who cares what some girl thinks," Trunks protested, flattening his hair out in the mirror.

"She's my friend and it'd just make my life easier, please, both of you promise me right now!" he pleaded.

The two looked at each other in silent communication, "we're going to play in the forest," Trunks finally gave him, "keep her away and she won't see us."

Gohan thought that's as good as any promise he'd get but it'd do for now, he could probably distract her enough so she wouldn't go there or see anything.

"Ok, thank you," he breathed.

The two nodded and jumped out of Gotens bedroom window, off to scamper around in the army of trees in the back yard while Gohan tried to relocate his friend and take her away from Bulma before any of the photo albums got pulled out, but apparently he was too late.

Erasa sat giggling on the couch next to said traitor, book open on her lap.

"Yeah that was the first trip Gohan and I had ever been away on together," she looked up and gave him a devilish grin. Gohan cleared his throat to pull Erasa's attention away from the photo.

Looking up at him she smiled, "oh Gohan, I didn't know your poor fashion sense went back so far."

Gohan groaned, "my mother made me wear those," It seemed that picture was always going to haunt him.

"Um would you like a tour of the house?" he shyly asked.

Erasa jumped from her spot, her smile going from ear to ear, "yes please!"

"Alright you two, mom said dinner will be ready in about two hours." she abandoned her spot on the couch and walked to the door, "No funny business and keep your bedroom door open," she sweetly sang as she sent Gohan a wink before rounding the corner.

He blushed furiously at what his adoptive mother was insinuating, without looking back at Erasa he said, "follow me," before leaving right behind Bulma.

Catching up with Gohan Erasa came to pace by his side, "so where we going first?" she excitedly asked.

"Well this is the family sector of the compound. Those stairs you saw in the lobby all lead to different places. Our bedrooms are all here along with the kitchen, movie room, Trunks and Gotens play room and the library. This is my room," pushing the door he let it fall open so Erasa could pop her head under his arm and see.

Sliding under him she walked in and plopped down onto his bed, looking around she spied a book case. It held many books and CDs, two or three DVD cases, pictures and little nik-naks. One big photo frame sat on one of the top shelves in the centre and she couldn't stop herself from asking, "So, you live here with Bulma right?"

To which he nodded.

"But those are your parents right there?" she pointed to the frame on the shelf.

To which he again nodded, automatically knowing where the conversation was headed he continued the line of questioning so she wouldn't have to ask.

"My parents died a few years ago," he started, walking over to the shelf, "my dad died and then not long after that my mom found out she was pregnant with Goten." Erasa padded over behind him and put a comforting hand on his back now feeling bad for asking.

Gohan reached up and pulled one photo down for her to look at, "this was her a few days before Goten was born."

Leaning into his side she peered down at the picture he held of a woman with long black hair that flowed loosely down to her shoulders and sat on her swollen belly, she looked tired and weak but she looked happy.

"She looks a lot like you," she murmured, continuing to trace her fingers along his back.

"She died giving birth to Goten," he murmured.

Erasa felt her throat starting to close up and the sting of tears in her eyes, "you mean that sweet, adorable little boy hasn't even met his mom or his daddy?"

It only took one stiff nod from Gohan for her lip the quiver and a single tear to escape her.

"Aw don't c-cry Erasa, I'm ok and so is Goten," he promised, setting the frame back in its place.

Bringing a hand up to her cheeks she carefully wiped under her eyes so her make up wouldn't run, "oh I'm sorry Gohan, I don't know why I'm crying you're the one that lost your parents."

He led her over to the bed and they both sat down, he knocked her with his shoulder lightly and smiled down at her, "it's not all that bad," he reasoned, "it's been so long since they've been gone that its not so painful anymore and besides, I like living here. Bulma is as good as my mom and Trunks really is a brother."

"You know what I totally thought it was weird for you to have a brother with purple hair," she laughed, "it didn't make any sense."

"Well to be fair his dad has the same coloured hair and eyes as me so if you'd ever met him you'd probably think he was my brother. It just happens he inherited more of his looks from his mom."

"Does Bulma have a husband?" she questioned, "I've never heard about him before. Actually come to think of it I've never heard of her having a family at all."

"Yeah, he doesn't really like to venture out into the public much. He's somewhat of a difficult person," he mused, "as for the family Bulmas tried as hard as she could to keep us out of the media. She said she wanted all of us to have a normal chance at life."

"Well I guess that makes sense," she thought over, playing with her shinny blue acrylic nails, "Videl can't really go anywhere without someone recognising her. It's annoying to even me when we're out together so I can't imagine how sucky it is to be right at the centre of it."

"Exactly," he smiled knowing that she understood completely, "so then can you promise me that you won't tell anyone where I live? I'm just not sure that I'm ready for all that yet."

"Not even Videl and Sharpner?" she turned her big blue eyes onto him, awaiting his answer.

"I don't know Erasa.."

"Oh come on Gohan they're your friends too and if I can keep your secret then so can they," she insisted.

"I know but I'm still settling in y'know?" he leaned back, letting his arms behind him support him, "I suppose I will eventually have to tell them and since Sharpners going to be with Yamcha a lot now he'll find out without me telling him but just a few more weeks won't hurt,"

Keeping his face void of anything he looked to Erasa for her answer. She still looked reluctant, not liking to keep big secrets from her friends.

"Well ok," she complied, "but promise you'll tell them soon."

"I promise," he grinned lifting himself from the bed, "come on, you've still got a lot to see."

Reignited with a vigour to explore the famous unseen house she all but leapt off the bed to follow Gohan, "oh by the way, I've been meaning to ask you all day. My dad said I have to score at least an 85 on our next Math exam and I was wondering if you could help me out?"

Now here was something Gohan could do, "sure!" he smiled, "you're in standard math right?" she nodded at his side, "then it'll be easy. I'll have you doing equations in your sleep."

Erasa giggled, "sounds devilishly exciting"

"Can we start tomorrow? I figure that since we're not going to be in classes this week we won't have any homework so it'd be easier for me to tutor you while we're not worried about falling behind on other subjects." he explained.

"Sure thing, 'han. What's in here?" she entered into the door Gohan just pushed open.

The room they'd just entered was shaped like a bowl that had bookcases filled with dvds stacked all around the wall. walking straight forward led to a small flight of stairs which lead you up to a plethora of comfy looking seats that looked out of a massive window. The whole part of that wall seemed to be nothing but window in fact. Erasa skipped up the stairs and practically threw herself onto one of the large sofas in the corner.

"Gohan your house is a dream!" she blurted, spreading her limbs out on the cushions.

"This is our rec room," he chuckled, following her up the stairs, "or we just call it the movie room. It's basically all we use it for," he smiled, "would you like a drink?"

"Sure, what've you got?" she turned to look at him.

"Practically everything, trust me," he assured, "whatever you feel like, hit me."

"Coconut water?" He left her with a nod and turned around towards the bar that took up the whole left side of the wall.

"So if you guys use this as your movie room where's the tv?" she blanked, looking everywhere and not finding a tv or screen, projector or anything.

"That door behind you," he pointed, "go have a look,"

Erasa didn't need to be told twice, rolling herself off the couch she slowly let the door fall open and she crept down the stairs. It was so dark she couldn't see a single thing as the stairs came to an end and she'd presumably entered the room. She took a hesitant step forward, holding her hands out in front of her to feel for any objects that might be hidden by the dark. To her surprise her balance instantly gave out, the floor was made of some type of cushioning and as she put he weight into her foot she'd fell forward with a startled scream.

In exactly 2.3 seconds Gohan was at the entrance, her drink in one hand and the other flicking on the light switch. As soon as he spotted the tousled girl sprawled out on the cushion floor he howled out in laughter, "sorry, I should have warned you."

Erasa was yet to speak, her brain had registered Gohan laughing at her but she couldn't bring her focus off what she saw in front of her.

She was in a movie theatre, a very large one with only one big key difference. The seats had been removed and the carpet ripped up only to be replaced with what looked to be red plushy cushions and mattress. Like a great red hill of softness that led down to the biggest projection screen she'd ever seen. The one in Videls house looked like a joke compared to this.

"Woah.." she whispered, pushing herself to her knees.

"Wanna see something cool?" setting Erasa's drink on the step behind him he took the small leap from carpeted floor to cushy softness and bounded along the wall to a door in the corner. Throwing it open he ran up into the projection room and over to the control panel, fiddling with a few switches and pushing a button he watched out of the window as Erasa looked on astonished.

Ledges began to grow from the down slope of the floor, making them look like big steps for giants.

Gohan jogged back down to the room, "jump on one, they're softer than clouds."

Falling back to her stomach she let herself roll down the hill and out of Gohans sight.

Gohan bounced back over to the door and grabbed Erasa's drink, carefully padding down to the bed his friend had just tumbled down to he levitated himself behind her, deciding it would be easy enough to tell her he'd actually just jumped down from the top if she asked.

"Here you go," he sat down cross legged next to her as she sipped at the drink in her hand.

"Gohan this place is ridiculous." she breathed.

"That's what I thought when I moved here." he chuckled, "y'know I'm kind of glad I chose this place as my home."

"So you got to choose where you went after your parents ah, y'know," she sheepishly glanced at him.

"Yeah." he nodded, "all of my dads friends offered me and my brother somewhere to stay but here was probably the best choice. My little brother would have someone his own age to grow up with," Gohan smiled down at her, "wanna watch a movie?"

"Yes!" she cheered, "can we please watch dirty dancing!"

"Is it good?" he lifted himself from his seated position.

"Yes it's my favourite! You'll love it, trust me," she gave him a sweet smile.

Gohan arched his eyebrow at her, "well ok I'm trusting you,"

Poor kid had no idea what he was in for.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ayyyy my homies, glad you all have reviewed and any response I may have had to you will be at the bottom of the story :D but there's one I'd like to address now.**

**This is of course a Videl and Gohan story, don't worry about Erasa this is me forging a proper friendship between them. Plus I have someone else in mind for her. Which you will find out who that is in this chapter or maybe the next or the one after? Who knows, so get readin'! And also beware, there's math in this chapter :o**

**Disclaimer: I in no way own any part of DB/Z/GT, all rights reserved to Akira Toriyama.**

**-.**

"But I don't get it," Erasa blanked at the equation in front of her, "I did everything you said and I'm still getting it wrong."

Gohan took the slip of paper from her hands and read over it again, "ok first thing, always show your working out, it's where half of your marks will come from because they'll be able to see where you've either got it right or wrong. One wrong move in an equation and it'll mess up all the numbers you calculate after that."

It was Thursday afternoon and the two sat in the Briefs library, arms deep into their third lesson. The first day Erasa had come over had gone smoother than Gohan could have ever hoped for. The two devil spawn had stuck to their promise and stayed in the forest and thanks to the movie they had watched it kept Erasa distracted and poor Gohan an almost constant shade of embarrassed red. No way in hell he'd be watching that movie again, especially with a girl who couldn't sing but knew all the words to all the songs. Torture. But thanks to the movie Gohan was able to bring their dinner into the movie room so they easily avoided Vegeta.

"Ok, remember there is one key rule with equations. What you do to one side you must do to the other and what's our main goal when it comes to solving equations?" Gohan looked to Erasa for the answer, waiting patiently as she tapped her pencil to her cheek in thought.

"To get all the same ones on the same side? So like the numbers with the letters should be on one side of the equation and the normal numbers should be on the other?" she looked at him hopefully, praying she'd got it right.

"Exactly! We're trying to get the same variables on the same side," he smiled encouragingly at her, "so this 3x on the left side needs to be moved to the right side with this 7x. So what we're going to do is minus 3x from its original side here on the left, and remember what we do to one side we must do to the other, so then we write in minus 3x on the right side so now you have 16 = 8+7x-3x. What do you do next?"

Gohan pushed the paper towards her and she looked at where Gohan had left off, "so I have to get the 8 to the left side?"

He nodded, "what do you do now that you know what you have to do?"

"Well because its a positive 8 we minus it and then it becomes a minus on the other side," she wrote in her findings, "so it would be 16-8, which is 8 and then 7x-3x which is 4x."

"Good," he complimented, "now we have 8 = 4x, what do you do now?"

"Divide both sides by 4?" she asked.

"Yes! Which gives you?" He coaxed her on to finish the last piece of the equation.

"2? It gives me two! x=2, Gohan I did it!" she jumped up in joy.

"Yes you did," he praised, "not only did you get the right answer but you showed your working out as well, you would have got full marks for that question. Now what I want you to do is practice, continue on with the rest of this exercise and then when you're well versed in basic equations we can move on to ones with fractions."

Erasa pouted, "fractions and equations together?"

"Afraid so," he chuckled, "but if you get this then you'll get the harder stuff in no time and anyway it's really only the start of term. Exams aren't for another few months so we've got time to take it slow so you understand everything."

Erasa gave him a determined nod, returning back to her textbook to find where she'd left off.

Pushing his chair back Gohan got up and stretched his back out, "how about some snacks?" he asked.

"Yes please!" she grinned.

Excusing himself he wondered through the compound and down to the kitchen, as he pulled the fridge open a chill raked through his body and not from the ice box he'd just opened. An unfamiliar power level that was almost equal to his flashed in from seemingly nowhere. Closing the fridge he felt it out, it was close, very close, they had to be on the grounds.

Abandoning everything he was doing he rushed out of the room, tracking the power out to Bulmas garage and workshop. Or 'the shed' as she'd dubbed it. As he bounded outside he already found Vegeta just a breath in front of him.

Both Saiyans all but ripped through the doorway only to come to a very harsh halt, the fiery ki surging in their hands dying out instantly.

"Hey guys,"

**-.**

Bulma sat in her room in her robe, fresh out of the shower, enjoying the brief quiet period of her household. Flipping through her newest trashy magazine she relaxed.

"Bulma?" Vegeta's rough, demanding voice came from the intercom.

Rolling off the bed and into her slippers she walked over to the door and pushed the button that would let her talk back to him, "I'm here, what's up lover," she could hear snickers in the background as he grumbled.

"Get down to The Shed. Now." he demanded before disconnecting.

She blinked at the intercom, "asshole."

Bulma slipped out of her robe and got dressed into some old daggy clothes. She figured if he was calling her to the shed the royal pain in the ass had broken something and wanted it fixed, meaning she was probably going to get dirty again. So much for just having a shower.

Bulma decided she'd take her time to wonder down there, Vegeta hated to be kept waiting and since he was going to be a jerk she thought she'd make him suffer a bit. Lingering in the house she popped her head into the kids playroom, seeing how they were doing and then into the kitchen to make a cup of tea for herself and then to the library on her way out. But she only found Erasa and no Gohan.

"Hey chicky," she called from the door and Erasa looked up to wave at her, "where's Gohan?" she asked.

"He said he was going to get snacks," she shrugged.

"Huh," she'd just been in the kitchen, he wasn't there, "well ok, if you need anything I'll be down in The Shed, Gohan showed you where that was right?"

"Uh-huh," she confirmed so Bulma smiled at her and immediately slipped out, maybe Gohan was with Vegeta.

Exiting the back door she wondered over to the prince who was standing out side of the shed, arms folded tight over his chest and looking more irritated than ever.

"What took you so damn long." he demanded.

"Your attitude is what made me take so long you jerk!" standing before him she planted her hands on her hips, "I'm not your servant Vegeta now what the hell do you want."

Vegetas brow twitched, pushing himself off the wall he silently entered the big dome, Bulma right behind him.

"Seriously Vegeta what do you want, I have a presentation to finish for my ne-"

Her words died in their tracks when she spotted the young man sitting next to Gohan on one of her work benches.

"Tr-Trunks!" she gasped, except it wasn't Trunks, it was the future counterpart of Trunks.

The kid had smears of oil all over his face and chest, his hair hung in his face and down to his shoulders, skin browned by the sun. A lone oil rag hung from the back pocket of his cargo pants that were tucked into his boots. He looked exactly the same from when she'd last seen him.

"Hey mom," came his abashed greeting.

"What the hell are you doing here! How long have you been here? Where the hell is your shirt? Did the boys see you? How are we going to explain this?" her barrage of questions was only halted by Vegeta.

"How do you expect the boy to answer if you never stop talking," he stated.

She shot him an irked glare as she turned to Trunks to start talking, "well?"

"Well it's not really my fault, I swear," Trunks held his hands up, "ever since I got back to my timeline mom has been playing around with a few new concepts for time travel." he held out one of his arms that had a bulky looking watch strapped to his wrist, "we were out in the shed working on projects when she'd finished this."

Bulma walked over to him and held his wrist to her face, looking over the invention.

"The stupid thing was supposed to take me 10 seconds into the past, not years. What year is it anyway?" he asked.

"It's Age 774," Gohan replied, "how old are you now?"

"I'm not far off 21 actually, to me it feels like I saw you all just about 2 years ago and you all look the same except for you Gohan. How old are you now?"

"17," he answered, "I may have gotten taller."

"Just a little bit," he laughed, "I'm sorry to put you all out like this, as soon as I got here I tried to get back but it seems the length of this one trip has malfunctioned the watch. It won't even turn on now." Undoing the clasp on the back he hopped off the bench to lay it down lightly, "think you can take a look mom?"

"Well I can try.." she walked over to him, "but I'm probably not as qualified to do this like future me is. In the past few years I've only really dipped into the shallow end of time travel mechanics."

"Well everything is still there, it could be a short wire or something came loose. Or so I hope," he raked his fingers through his hair, "your hands are half the size of mine so I thought it might be better for you to dig around in there before I have a crack at it. Maybe even grandpa could help."

Bulma rummaged through her desk to find one of her mini tool kits. Specifically designed to work with small and delicate stuff, "I'll get right to it but I don't know if I'll be able to do anything and I don't know how long this is going to take so somebody should probably go and catch the boys up before one of them accidentally stumbles by you."

"I'll do it," Gohan volunteered, "when I'm done explaining it to them I'll bring them down here to meet you,"

Vegeta made his way to the door, "if you're still here by tonight boy I expect you in my training quarters no later than 8."

Trunks screwed his face up, "aw man I just got here and he wants to beat me to a pulp."

Gohan chuckled, on his way out after Vegeta, "tough luck Mirai,"

Both disappeared around the corner when Trunks heard his father mutter, "don't laugh boy I'll be expecting you too."

Trunks and Bulma laughed when all they heard was Gohans soft "damn it," linger to their ears.

Gohan made his way inside, making a quick pit stop by his room to grab the photo album Goten had brought in last Saturday. Flicking through the pages he tried to find any photo they might have had of future Trunks, a visual aid would help the boys realise he wasn't joking. When he finally found it he knocked at their playroom door and awaited for one of them to answer.

He reckoned Trunks was going to love the new addition to their family.

-.

Gohan had been right, the boys had taken the news smoothly and Trunks was practically bouncing off the walls, he wanted to go see the future him. He sounded so cool.

So when Gohan had told them they could meet him and that he was down in the shed they had left him in their dust and he had to struggle to catch up and beat them to the shed door. Once they calmed down a bit and were reminded that there was no running in this part of the compound he let the door fall open and Trunks immediately bounded in to jump up onto Mirai.

"Hi! I'm you," he enthusiastically announced.

"I can see that," he chuckled, "I am you but I want you to think of me more like your big brother while I'm here ok?"

"Cool, I've always wanted my own big brother," he smiled.

"But what about me kiddo," Gohan came up and ruffled his hair.

"Well you are like my big brother Gohan but he looks like me," Trunks reasoned.

"But I thought he was you?" Goten levitated up and circled around Mirai, "hi, I'm Goten," he waved.

"Wow," Mirai marvelled, "Gohan he looks just like your dad."

"Yeah he gets that a lot," he answered, scooping his brother out of the air and tickling his side, "he even eats like dad too."

Mirai shuddered, he was a Saiyan and he could definitely eat but it was nothing compared to Goku.

"Hey, in the future am I really strong? What about Goten? Is he strong too?" Trunks asked, looking up into Mirai's face.

"Actually, Goten doesn't exist in my timeline," he revealed.

"Aw man! I don't even get to be born?" he bursted.

"So you didn't even get a best friend to play with all the time?" Trunks asked.

"I'm afraid not," he lightly chuckled at the fallen expression of his younger counterpart, "but I would have loved to grow up with one. You're very lucky." he bounced him in his arms, "man this is so weird,"

"Hey do you wanna see my room! Come play with me and Goten," he jumped down to the ground and yanked on Mirai's hand.

Mirai looked over to his mother, silently asking if it was ok.

"Go ahead, kids. I might be here for awhile." she waved off, "and find him a shirt."

"Yay!" the two yelped in unison, "follow us Mirai!"

Goten and Trunks ran out the door together, Mirai jogging to keep up. Just as they rounded the corner Gohan heard a distinct girly scream, followed by Goten and Trunks profuse apologies.

Shit. He'd forgotten about Erasa.

Running to the door Gohan found her goggling up at Mirai who was holding his hand out to her. Erasa's cheeks looked like delicate pink rose petals as she shyly took his offered hand. Stuttering out a bashful thank you Mirai smiled and continued to run after the two tornadoes.

"Hey E," Gohan walked over, rubbing the spot behind his neck.

"Who was that god of a guy and why haven't you introduced me to him yet?" her gaze continued to follow the shirtless Mirai that'd just helped her up.

"That's Tr- I mean Mirai, he's Bulma's son," he supposed his statement was still true, he was her son, "and he just got here, sorry I forgot about the snacks when I ran into him ," he truthfully admitted.

"Well I guess that makes sense," she sighed, turning to face him as she swiped the loose grass from her clothes, "oh Gohan he was so dreamy."

Gohan awkwardly chuckled, "uh, yeah, how about those snacks then?"

When she didn't answer and Gohan saw her face was glazed over he simply pushed her towards the house and into the kitchen, sitting her at the table she let her chin rest on her hand as she day dreamed about the dirty kid with purple hair and a six pack and after they'd retrieved all their snacks she continued to do the same thing in the library during their study session.

Gohan waved his hands in front of her face, "heeeelllooo, Erasa?"

"Hm?" she hummed.

"Maybe we should leave the rest of the lesson for next time.." he suggested.

"You're probably right," she blinked, starting to gather all her stuff, "I should probably go home and make sure my brother isn't starving to death. Daddy said he'd be working late."

she turned to Gohan, "oh, I forgot!" she squeaked, "daddy's at work, do you think someone could drop me off 'han?"

"Sure, I'll take you home. Is your little brother ok to be home by himself though?" he wondered.

"Yeah, it's usually just me and him most of the time anyway. We know how to take care of ourselves," she brushed the hair out of her eyes, "do you have a car Gohan?"

"This is capsule corp, we have multiple cars," he ran his hands through his hair, "y'know you could always bring him here if you ever want to. I'm sure the boys would love to have someone to play with, or we could even do sessions at your house sometimes?" he smiled at her as he scooped up her pile of books and led the way out.

"His head would probably explode at how awesome this place is," she giggled, "but I think he'd love that and yeah, I don't see why we couldn't do some sessions at my house."

Leading her outside and to another building she hadn't entered yet he bent down to a key panel situated between a massive roller garage door and a normal one. Punching at some keys the door beeped as it slid open. The two walked into a big storage space that looked like an indoor parking lot that housed a great handful of cars.

"Take your pick," he motioned for her to walk in and look around.

"Wow," she sighed, looking at some of the newest cars out on the market her jaw had become slacked, "Gohan why do you never drive any of these? I-I didn't even think you could drive."

He shrugged, "I've been driving for a while actually. Bulma's had me test drive cars since I practically moved here," him being the indestructible force he was they both figured he was the safest option to test drive them. So that if they blew up he'd be left with little more than a scratch rather than dead like a regular person, "and I don't usually drive them because they attract a lot of attention. I'm trying to lay low remember?"

"Oh right," she slid her hand over one shinny white car, "I choose this one!"

"Well get in," he rolled over to the drivers side, opening up the back door to put her stuff in the back seat.

"But don't you need the keys?" she blanked, slidding into the passengers seat.

"Nah these are show models. They usually get shipped off to dealerships to be used as display or test drive cars so we don't build in key systems for them or things like the radio, it means we can sell the test cars to businesses for cheaper. All you have to do is push this button," on the right side of the steering wheel there was a red button he punched in and the car immediately roared to life, "and go. Simple and easy."

"Wow." she buckled in her seat belt, "Gohan, I don't think I'm ever going to get used to this place."

If she was hardly grasping at this household now then she was in for a shock if she ever found out any of their family's real secrets.

"Don't worry, it took me a while too." he chuckled and off they went to Erasa's house.

-.

Gohan swept inside and immediately went for the kitchen where he could feel the whole household had gathered. It was dinner time and they'd started without him!

Busting into the room he found a great mass of food situated in the middle of the table and his brothers gnawing away.

"Hey Gohan, where have you been?" Bulma eyed him over her bowl of food, "Erasa not joining us for dinner?"

"Nah," he took his seat across from the heiress and next to Mirai, "I just took her home."

Gohan started to dig in and Bulma continued to stare at him while he ate. If it weren't for the fact that there was a mountain of food that was quickly being demolished by four other Saiyans he'd have time to be uncomfortable about it.

The family continued to eat and talk from time to time, mostly Mirai catching them up on his timeline.

"Well the past few years haven't been filled with much but reconstruction. I've been helping out construction crews to build shelters for people while their homes are rebuilt." Mirai shoved a dumpling in his mouth and chewed, "moms been working on a new spaceship as well so we can find New Namek and ask to use their dragon balls. It's been really tough though. We don't have any of the Saiyan spaceships or Kamis to work off so anything we've developed so far doesn't travel nearly as fast as we need it to."

"Why do you need the Dragon Balls?" Bulma asked.

"We want to wish all our friends back to life," he shrugged, "it'd be nice to have everyone around y'know," he looked over to his father and Gohan and then down to the mini Goku beside him, "I want a little Goten in my timeline too." he chuckled when Goten gave him a big cheesy grin.

"Well I can't say that I can help you very much with the space ship," Bulma reasoned, "but what plan do you have to find new Namek?"

Mirai sheepishly looked away, "actually we don't have one yet, we've been trying to focus on getting the ship first."

"What about a long range dragon ball radar?" she suggested, "if we can track Nameks dragon balls from here you'd have directions to their new planet."

"That's a great idea!" Trunks cheered, "if we can build a dragon radar that can reach through the solar system we'll be able to find their planet no problem."

The two youngest boys had finished eating and already left the area, Gohan and Vegeta stayed for the conversation.

"We may not be able to extend its reach so far that it'll show up straightaway but if you take a radar with a longer range and set out in your space ship then I'm certain that when you get close you'll find them no sweat." she announced.

"That's a really great idea guys but you need a ship too," Gohan reminded them.

"I might be able to help with that," Vegeta suddenly pitched in.

Mirai's face lit up, "really dad? You know space ship mechanics?"

Vegeta pushed himself away from the table, "if you can beat me in a sparring match tonight I'll tell you."

Vegeta turned from them and walked to the door, "8 o'clock and no later. I'll be expecting both of you."

Both boys slumped in their seats, "Gohan how strong is my dad these days?" Mirai hesitantly asked.

"Stronger than I am, I know that much," he mumbled, standing up to stretch out.

"Well I think I might start drawing up some ideas for the radar before father beats the tar out of me if you want to help mom," Mirai made for the door his father just left out of, Gohan behind him.

"Sure, I'll be there in a minute but Gohan," she called for him and he turned back, "can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure thing Bulma," he came back to the table that had just been cleared and sat back across from her, "what's up?"

Mirai took that as his cue to leave.

She tapped her nails across the kitchen table, "I was fixing one of the cleaning bots that was malfunctioning today and found this wedged inside it,"

She promptly slid a small square pink foil wrapper across to him, catching it under his index finger he turned it over and instantly paled. Retracting his hand like it was hot coal.

"Look Gohan, I love Erasa and you're getting older now and starting to want things and I'm surprised it really took you so lo-"

"This isn't mine!" he suddenly bursted, face as pink as the wrapper in front of him.

Apparently Bulma didn't like that answer, "then where exactly did that come from huh Gohan?" her steely gaze settled on his and he had trouble stopping himself from looking away.

"No you've got it all wrong! I-I, Tha-That's Erasa's," he felt the heat rise from his neck and flood into his face.

Her stare tightened in confusion, "well it doesn't matter who's it is Gohan, I'm glad you're using protection and all but the movie room is a family are-"

"No! Me and Erasa we aren't- we're not havin- well we aren't doing that!" he spluttered, "we're just friends!"

"Then where did this come from?" she inquired, her brow arching at him expectantly.

"Yamcha!" he immediately blurted without thinking.

Bulma's face turned murderous, "why the hell is Yamcha giving you condoms!" she shouted.

"Wait no, I mean not Yamcha but the school!" he scattered, "remember you had to sign that permission slip for the drug and sex thing at school?" she nodded, "well Yamcha was the special guest and he gave those out to everyone. This must have dropped out of Erasa's pocket when we were jumping around in there the other day, I swear,"

Bulma continued to stare at Gohan, "ok I trust you but that doesn't change what I want to talk to you about now. You're old enough to make your own decisions and do what you like but remember that there are consequences to these things."

"Oh come on Bulma, we've already had this talk remember," he looked at her, pleading for her to just stop talking.

"I know kiddo but I just want to remind you," she stood and raked her hand through his hair on the way out, "your mother would murder me if you had a child before graduating," she chuckled.

Gohan sat in silence, focusing on his breathing. The embarrassment of this conversation was overwhelming.

"Oh by the way, if Yamcha was a special speaker for sexual education what exactly did he talk about?" she paused, hanging off the hinge of the door.

Gohan supposed this was her way of trying to find out if he'd said anything about their past relationship. Opting to look anywhere but at her he answered, "um, y'know, contraception, babies, diseases, stuff like that,"

"Uh-huh," she hummed, "well I'll be in the shed if you need me. Good luck with your fight tonight," she sang down the hallway.

After that talk Gohan would gladly walk into the spar with the warrior prince and take any beating he was bound to get. Anything would have been better than the talk he just went through. Swiping the strawberry condom from the kitchen table he promptly made his way to his room and chucked it into his bedside table with the box Bulma had given him a year ago. Shutting it up tight he retreated into the bathroom, opting for a quick shower before getting ready for the spar. He was going to be sore tonight.

-.

Gohan and Mirai collectively limped to the medical bay after their match with Vegeta.

Mirai had been more determined than ever to beat his father in return for his help with the spaceship dilemma but no matter what he tried he was no match for the legendary Saiyan Prince. In the end Mirai had resorted to trying to rearrange their deal to say that if the elder saiyan could take himself and Gohan together then he wouldn't have to help and after more than an hour the two finally managed to wear him down and take him out. Much to Vegeta's annoyance.

"Man he has gotten scary strong in the last few years," Mirai muttered as he set his leg back into place.

"Yeah no kidding," Gohan spread an antiseptic cream over the shallow gashes on his forearm and bicep, "we're lucky he's one of the good guys."

"Don't tell me the big Prince has renounced all his old ways," Mirai chuckled.

"Well I guess he's not your typical selfless hero," he replied, "but he's become a lot better these past few years."

The two continued to tend to their wounds in silence until Mirai hesitantly broke it.

"What's he like with Trunks?" he asked.

"You mean does he act like a proper father to him?" Gohan rephrased with a smile, "more or less." he shrugged, "I mean, well, I would say so considering its Vegeta. He's pretty good with Goten and Trunks actually."

Gohan ripped off his tattered shirt and chucked it into the waste bin, "he trains both of them. Taught them how to fly and use their ki. He even taught them how to read and speak Saiyan. I'm more than certain that if it weren't for Vegeta those two would have brought this world to its knees years ago, were you ever that mischief as a child?"

He knew he was essentially talking to the person who they were talking about but they had much different upbringings.

"No. Well, I don't think so," he laughed, "maybe if I had a Goten in my timeline it'd be different. I didn't know how much I wanted a Saiyan friend to grow up with until now. They seem really close."

"Oh man you don't know the half of it," he joked, "you'll hardly ever see one without the other."

Gohan helped aid Mirai in walking up to their rooms, he had opted to stay close to Gohan given the choice of all the guest rooms he choose one a few doors down from the now younger Saiyan.

Pushing the door ajar he flicked the lights on and dropped Mirai onto the bed, "by the way before I forget, I'm taking the boys camping this weekend in the mountains if you want to come?"

"Yeah, sure thing Gohan. I haven't been camping since future you took me to train," Mirai began to strip off the tattered clothes he'd borrowed from Gohan.

"Ok, well I'll let you get some rest. Man am I going to be sore for school tomorrow,"

Shutting the door behind him he entered his own room and began to strip himself of the clothes that now had scorch marks and blood littered all over, dragging himself over to the shower he jumped in and rinsed off all the sweat and remnants of dried up blood, spotting one particularly nasty bruise on his backside.

Jumping out he didn't bother with a towel instead deciding to let his ki flare up and dry him as he moved the clothes Erasa had laid out for him for school tomorrow off his bed. Apparently he still didn't get the knack of matching the clothes she'd picked for him so she went to the trouble of compiling an outfit for tomorrow that she called the 'coming out-fit'.

The one that'd get him recognised as a hottie she had said much to Gohans embarrassment.

Throwing back his blankets he didn't bother to get dressed instead jumping in stark naked and letting sweet rest fall upon him. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

-.

Once again Videl had been pulled out of school for another emergency, leaving her friends behind she had quickly decapsulised her copter and flew upon a building that had caved in trapping god knows how many citizens. Landing down she was briefed quickly by the chief and then quickly jumped to action.

Taking the fire escape up as far as the building was stable she kicked in one of the windows and jumped in without hesitation. She didn't know where to start and she didn't know where to go so she raked through the first floor, snooping around for the stair case that'd lead her up to the half collapsed floors.

"Helloooo?" she called, "is there anybody in here?" her voice echoed through this first floor so she quickly moved on to the next where she could hear the distinct sound of muffled moaning.

"Hello?" she drawled out again and the mumbling became more distinct, entering the office floor she stepped over paper and files that littered the floor. Immediately she was hit with the dust and rubble that still lingered in the air, assaulting her airways and making her cough in pain.

Looking above she found the roof had caved in, from where she stood she could see at least three more floors up. There was no telling how many were trapped in this mess.

"If you're here I need you to make as much noise as possible," she instructed, "it'll help me find you and we can get you help."

Hearing the sounds coming from her side she ran to the built up pile of rubble to her right, using her shirt to cover her mouth from the dust she immediately got to work on digging through the mess, unearthing one leg she quickly moved up to where the head should be.

"Hold on I've found you!" she shouted.

Grabbing at the boulders that seemed to be atop of this person she yanked at them furiously not knowing how long she could survive under the weight until she spotted what looked to be long brown hair and a patch of pale skin. Digging just a little more she found the moaning girl, her face bloodied and her arm and leg disfigured.

Videl lifted her watch, "civilian found, level 8, broken arm and leg send a crew to our location immediately."

Suddenly the building started to shake violently and she looked down to the girl who was slipping in and out of consciousness, "someone is on their way to get you, don't try to move or talk. Save your energy," with that said she got back to her feet and tried to run over to the staircase as stably as she could. She needed to find anyone else trapped asap or they were all going to be flattened.

Clinging onto the metal side bar she climbed her way up but before she could get to the next floor another tremor ransacked through the building and the stairs collapsed beneath her feet leaving Videl helplessly hanging by the side rail.

She let a curdling scream out as one of her hands slipped from the rail as a part of the stairs above her broke off and narrowly hit her. Looking below she searched for a platform that she could land on but only coming up with a steep drop and ruble.

She was in deep trouble this time.

-.

Videl had left 15 minutes before Orange Star High was due to be let out for their first break and no matter what reason Gohan gave his teachers he would not be excused from the trust exercise they were doing on their last day of sexual education week.

He was panicking, he had followed Videls ki since she left the building and it'd just spiked and history dictated that that meant something was wrong. So when that bell had rang he slipped out immediately and ran for the rooftop before any other students had got to the hall.

Ripping the shirt off his back he threw it away. He was in too much of a hurry to care where it landed. Letting the super Saiyan transformation surge through him he hurtled through the sky, already seeing the wreckage before him he pushed himself to fly as fast as his ki would let them.

The closer he came to the disaster the more he could hear the grinding of a building that was about to completely collapse.

Flinging into an open window he felt out all the power signatures in the building. He needed to get them all out before this place imploded. Going through the first floor he picked up a girl who was severely injured, jumping out of the window he took her down to where the ambulances were stationed and immediately shot back up collecting a horde of people before he went back in for Videl.

He could feel her power signature, it was still strong so she was still conscious but through all the rubble and layers he couldn't find her. If he smashed through the walls in her general direction it could make the situation worse but if he took much longer to locate her she'd be as good as dead.

Suddenly there was a ripple beneath his feet and he could hear the crumble of the foundation before Videls blood curdling scream. He was out of options and out of time. Bracing himself he rammed his shoulder into everything that was in his way, breaking into the failed staircase he shot through a large piece of concrete and towards the flailing teenage Satan.

"Hold on!" he shouted seeing they were close to hitting the ground he pushed himself forward and wrapped his body around her so he would take most of the impact.

They plummeted down, down, down and Gohan squished his eyes close, tightening one hand around her he held his other hand out in front of him so the first thing to hit the floor would be his hand and not Videls back.

He felt the jagged concrete slice into his palm and forearm as half the building crashed into his back and drove him deeper into the ground. He tried to keep himself and Videl as still as possible but one particularly jagged boulder slammed down on his head and Gohan came crashing down on top of Videl.

She let out a scream that could shatter your ear drums and Gohan desperately pushed to lift himself off of her. Seconds went by and everything started to drip down to a stop. He still felt the pressure of half the building on top of him but he was sure that the last spec had fallen.

Pushing himself up he looked down to the blue eyed girl in his arm, there was blood on her face and he realised it was dripping on her from his head, "are you ok?" he asked.

Videl simply nodded.

"Curl into me," he instructed, "I'm going to try get us out as quickly as I can."

Videl slivered her arms up in front of her face and around his neck as she pulled her knees up and he curled his arm down to her lower backside to support her.

Taking a second he let his energy flare and gather as he prepared to shoot it around himself, like a cocoon of fire that'd hopefully disintegrate the jungle of concrete around them as they shot to freedom.

"Are you ready?" he murmured into her ear and she nodded into his chest.

He tightened his grip around her as much as he could and sprung himself forward, he pushed all his energy behind them and they flung out into clear air. As Gohan broke through the wall the foundation of the building completely collapsed in an explosion of dust so he flew them up high into breathable air.

Gohan flew them over to the roof top of a building across the street. He wanted to get Videl laid down so he could check that he hadn't crushed her when essentially a whole building plus a Saiyan made of iron had pressed down on top of her.

Slowly she unclasped her hands from his neck and he sat her upright on a step.

Videl gasped at the pain in her chest, she was more than certain a few of her ribs were broken. It left her breathing heavily, she thought she'd be fine until a fit of coughs caught her and she pulled her hand away to find blood.

Gohan took her palm in his hand, "we need to get you to a hospital now."

He didn't wait for her to answer he scooped her off and set to the sky for Satan City Hospital. He couldn't take her to Dende because she was too conscious and too nosy. No way in hell she'd just forget about a green man that can magically make her wounds disappear just because he'd saved her life. It's not how she worked.

"W-What about you?" she coughed, looking at the gash on his head and the skin peeled back on his fingers.

"I'll be ok." he gave her, "I've had it worse."

Gohan did the same thing he did with the girl from the shooting. He walked in the front door and into the reception area and calmly explained what happened and what the patient needed.

Hearing that it was Videl Satan and the seriousness of the situation nurses were quick to step in and direct him to a room he could lay her down in, people were buzzing around them setting up all sorts of machines. Only now being more than a breathe away from her Gohan could see that the side of her shirt was soaked in blood. He looked at her worriedly as she dipped in and out of consciousness, staring right back at him.

Before he knew it he was being pushed out of the room.

He turned to the nurse who had just escorted him out, "is she going to be ok?" he asked uncertainly.

"She's haemorrhaging, we need to prep her for surgery right now. We won't know for a few hours." she truthfully told him and he nodded, "i think one of her broken ribs may have punctured one of her lungs." the nurse got all the details he could give her and then he promptly headed for the exit. There was no need for him to stay here at the hospital. He couldn't. Not in his Super Saiyan form but he realised he couldn't go back to school looking the way he did either because he had a little bit too much blood on him to cover up with a simple sweatshirt. He didn't even know where that shirt was now, he'd thrown it to the wind and it'd been lost to the city.

So he flew home. He thought Bulma might have something to say about him skipping out on school for the rest of the day but he needed the healing tank at home. The bare flesh on his fingers was starting to sting and the feel of sticky blood drying in his hair wasn't the most favourable sensation in the world.

Landing down in the backyard he stumbled inside, immediately running into the head of house.

"Gohan!" she shouted as she ran over to him, "what happened to you! Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, it's ok," he smiled at her, "it's nothing too painful, I just couldn't go back to school looking like this." he sheepishly looked to her.

Bulmas brow furrowed, "Son Gohan you shouldn't have been out of school in the first place!"

"I know, I know," he admitted, "but one of my friends would have died if I wasn't there! And I waited until first break to leave.." he smiled nervously at her but she did not look impressed.

Bulma searched over him. Blood was caked on his forehead and his right hand and forearm looked like it'd been shredded, "I don't know what I'm going to do with you," she sighed, "come on, lets get you into a rejuvenation tank you're dripping on my floor. I'll call the school and tell them you had to leave." she turned to him mischievously, "maybe I'll tell them you had diarrhoea."

"Bulma!" he croaked.

"Ok, ok," she giggled, "just joshin around kiddo."

She led the way down to the medical bay and Gohan took his place inside the mechanical chamber, shutting the door behind him and putting on the oxygen mask he watched Bulma through the glass window as she fumbled around with the system operations, putting in her coding to start the healing process.

The tank started to fill with warm liquid and Gohan let his eyes flutter closed, dropping off the edge of consciousness.

-.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I know it kind of abruptly stops but next chapter is half done so I'm more than certain you won't have to wait for very long for the next one :)

REQUEST

all of your requests have been duly noted, now we'll just have to see how the story pans out :D as for all the contraception methods and saiyans I agree with you mostly that most methods wouldn't work for them but there has to be something that does. Otherwise I'm sure Bulma and Vegeta would have had multiple children by the buu saga :') which I totally wouldn't be opposed to :P

Shadow Tricked

Thanks for the feedback! :D and yes, as I said at the top this is a Videl/Gohan story, I'm slowly working up to it.

Thank you everyone for reviewing!

.


	7. Chapter 7

**So I know it has been forever since I've updated but I'm still here, this story is always at the back of my mind so I'm determined to see it through.  
The chapter after this one is mostly written because it was originally apart of this one, it was so long I felt like it had to be cut into two so you can expect that one to drop within a day or so as well. Maybe even later tonight if I can tough it out.**

**Happy reading! C:**

**Disclaimer**

**I in no way own anything DBZ related, Akira Toriyama is king.**

**-.**

Today had been the first time in seven years Gohan had entered his old home.  
In the morning when the four had set down on Mount Paozu Gohan had spent some time showing everyone the highlights of his childhood before silently slipping out for a moment to decapsulise his parents old house, leaving the boys to play in The Great Lake and hunt for their lunch.

Once the smoke cleared it was like being thrown back in time. The cottage remained the same pale white/yellow that he remembered, the same curtains hung behind unopened windows, his fathers' wooden tub stood unhindered by time and his mothers' clothesline was still connected to the backside of the house.

Padding up to the door he turned the knob and pushed it open, taking his first step into the house he stood there and took in all he saw. Everything seemed smaller then he remembered but he supposed he had grown an inch or two in the past few years.

The contents of the house sat exactly where his mother had left them. Her homemade pillows still sat on their small couch in front of their outdated TV, their bookcase still held all his old textbooks and photo albums and the little ornaments still stood on the fire place mantel in front of the big canvas picture of his parents on their wedding day.

Coming all the way in he left the door open and forced a few of the windows open to let some air waft through the house. Moving into the kitchen he opened up the backdoor and placed the rock they kept aside in front of it to stop it from slamming close.

Walking through the house he came to a stop first at his parent's room. Gohan didn't linger here, he felt it was an invasion of privacy even though both parents were long gone. He simply opened the window and continued on to his own old room.

The door was already open so he breezed in, spotting wooden figures on the floor by his bed he knelt down and held one between his fingers. His dad had whittled these little toys for him when he was young and they had remained his favourite throughout his childhood. There was an Indian Chief and his brave son, a Frankenstein's monster looking character and a girl donning a hat with wings. Perhaps his favourites of them all though were the figures that his father had made of himself and Icarus.

Picking up all of the figures he gently sat them down on his study desk so they wouldn't be in danger of being stepped on. Letting them lie idle he fell back to his bed and stared at them until he could hear his brother calling his name from outside of the window.

"Gohaaaaaaaaaaannn," he walked over to the window in time to see three boys poke out from the army of trees, four gargantuan fish accompanying them.

Making his way outside he gave his brother a big smile, "wow buddy did you catch that fish all on your own?"

"Yah I sure did! But Mirai caught two!" he chirped.

"Yeah I figured I was going to have to get an extra one," Mirai promptly chucked one of the fish from his shoulder into Gohans chest.

"I didn't know you could fish," Gohan smiled in thanks to which he just shrugged.

"You taught me." He said, both knowing he meant the Gohan in his timeline.

Goten tugged on the belt of Gohans gi, "Gohan, whose house is that?" he pointed to the faded home in the distance.

"That's mom and dads' house," he said.

"Oh boy!" Goten jumped, letting his fish sag to the ground in his excitement, "can I see Gohan! Can I, can I, can I?"

Trunks grabbed Goten by the collar before he could speed off towards the cottage, "where do you think you're going!" he exclaimed, "food first, I'm starving!"

Gohan chuckled as the two started to squabble, "Trunks is right Goten," he broke them apart, "how about lunch first? That way we won't get hungry and we can stay in there longer," he looked down to his thoughtful face, waiting for his answer.

"Well ok," he complied, hiking his catch back over his shoulder.

"Well come on then!" an impatient 8 year old Trunks interrupted, "let's get a fire going I'm starving!"

And without further hesitation the four settled in and made camp.

-.

-.

After a rushed lunch, thanks to an insistent Goten, Gohan found himself catching and refolding all the clothes that the two devil twins were throwing out of his old wardrobe. He had given everyone a quick tour of the house and now they were in his old room laughing at all the awful clothes he used to wear as a kid.

"I love mommy?" Mirai held up a stray pale yellow t-shirt that Gohan hadn't got to yet.

Gohans cheeks reddened, "my mom made me wear that," he snatched it from his grip, folding it up and adding it to the pile of other clothes.

"I didn't think mom was telling the truth when she said we were lucky she dressed us," Trunks held up a little golfers hat, forcing it onto Gotens head over his stubborn spikes, "but she was so right."

"Yeah Gohan," Goten agreed, "All of these clothes are weird."

"I hardly wore any of these clothes!" he defended, "I always wore the gi piccolo gave me."

Walking over to the closet he leaned over his kneeling brothers to sift through his wardrobe, pulling out the first ever gi he owned. The one his master had gifted him before his first ever battle.

Stepping back he pulled out a coat hanger that had a purple shirt, pants and red belt hanging from it, "mom hated this thing so much," he chuckled recalling all the times she had tried to get rid of his beloved gi, "I remember the day I finally grew out of this. She was so happy."

"Is that when you had to wear all these ugly clothes Gohan?" Goten pushed himself off the floor to take the clothes from his brother which he willingly passed on. Discarding the ugly golfer's hat he started to undress.

"Well no," he watched as his brother started to strip his usual orange gi to throw on Gohans old one, "after I grew out of that gi I grew out of most of these so Piccolo gave me a new one."

"The one with the cape?" Mirai recalled the kid he went into battle with.

"Uh huh," he nodded, watching Goten tie the red belt around his hips to hold his pants up, "I'm pretty sure I have that one at home still somewhere."

Goten shoved his feet back into his shoes and then jumped to his feet, "it fits!" he happily announced.

"It sure does bud," he smiled, catching him in his arms when he leapt up to him.

Goten fit snuggly into his chest and he couldn't believe that once upon a time he had been this small. He couldn't even remember being a kid like Goten was, it felt so surreal seeing him in the same gi he wore.

"Y'know, I wore this in my first ever battle," he walked over to the desk and dropped down into the chair, Goten still in his arms, "It was the first time I ever fought your dad Trunks."

Trunks stopped his search through Gohans closet and Goten reached for one of the wooden toys Gohan had put on his desk earlier.

Mirai relaxed back on Gohans old bed, wanting to hear the story, "I imagine that went well."

"Well not exactly," he chuckled, "your dad crushed the hell out of me."

Trunks pushed himself off the ground and threw his body into Mirai who caught him without even a glance, pinning him to the bed under his arm.

"What was my dad like when he first came here?" Trunks asked.

"Well he was basically the same as he is now," he carefully answered. He knew the two younger ones didn't know very much about Vegeta's past and he wasn't going to be the one to explain it to them, "he was stronger than anyone I'd ever known and crazy as hell." he laughed, "I remember thinking about how crazy his hair was the first time I saw him."

Mirai gave his own guffaw, "that was the second thing I thought, the first was how short he is."

All four boys laughed at their prince and continued to talk until Gohan suggested some spar time to stretch out their muscles. The younger half of the group immediately raced each other out of the room, leaving Mirai and Gohan casually strolling out behind them.

"Was that really the first thing you thought about your dad?" Gohan asked Mirai.

"Yeah, that wasn't the first thing you thought of my dad?" he chuckled.

"Well no," he said, "I was only 5 when I met him so he was maybe an inch taller than me," he joked, realising he would definitely be a dead man if that comment ever made its way to the proud prince.

The two continued to laugh as they joined the younger saiyans, off to enjoy the rest of the day out in the sun and fresh mountain air.

-.

-.

Shifting in her hospital bed under the itchiest blanket she'd ever felt Videl lay awake, drowsy and in pain. Her throat was sore from misuse, every breath she took caused sharp stabbing pains in her chest and the stiches in her side throbbed with every little movement she made. If this was how she felt with pain medication then she was not looking forward to when the effects wore off.

And seriously, this blanket was the itchiest thing she'd ever felt. She was so uncomfortable.

Lying on her back she brought her hand up to rub at her aching head. She was so tired but too sore to be able to willingly fall into a nice sleep. So now all she could do is lie there and hope that eventually she'd get so exhausted she'd fall into unconsciousness.

Videl continued to rub at her head when she caught a flicker of a light in the corner of her eye. Shifting her head to the side she found it brightening behind the curtains outside of her window.

At first thought she figured it was probably another copter full of paparazzi trying to get a glimpse of the wounded Satan but then she heard the creak of the window as it was being pushed open.

Using her elbow she pushed herself to the side so she could reach the remote on the side table to call for help and once she had it in her hand, thumb placed firmly over the button she stopped.

Climbing into her room from a 19th story window was the Golden Fighter. Still partially hidden behind the curtains he turned around to close the window after him and only then did he properly step into the private hospital room.

"Hi," he lamely greeted, clearing his throat.

This was the first time Videl got to fully take in the fighter before her and she couldn't form the right words to describe the impossible being before her.

His glowing aura lit up her whole room with a brilliance that was reminiscent of the sun, spreading a much needed warmth to Videl that she just wasn't getting from her horrid hospital blanket. His power sent a tickle through her that made all the hair on her arms and neck stand up, the amount of power that he was emitting was chilling.

Videl continued to run her eyes over him. Taking in the muscles on his chest that lay just beneath his gi, down to his arms and then back up to his face that had now taken on a worried frown.

"You look awful," he sighed as he glided over to the chair next to her bed, making himself comfortable at her bedside.

As soon as he sat down a million and one questions flitted in and out of her mind but thanks to her wounded lung it felt like a hundred needles poking her chest with every word she tried to utter. Using her left arm she pushed herself to the right, trying to reach for the notepad she'd been using to communicate with when he grabbed it for her, encouraging her to sit back and not move too much.

'_Who are you?'_ she slowly scrawled after taking the item from him.

Leaning over he read what she wrote and smiled, "I'm a friend and I'm here to help," digging into his pocket he pulled out what looked like a small green lolly that he held to her in the palm of his hand.

"Eat it and I promise you'll feel a whole lot better," he motioned for her to take it from his palm and she hesitantly took up the bean between her thumb and index finger, looking at it curiously.

Why should she take this? This could be poison or something and she'd really never even talked to this guy before so why should she trust him? How was this little pea supposed to make her feel better anyway?

Videl looked up to this stranger in disbelief and all he did was chuckle at her. She couldn't see what was so funny.

"It's not poison if that's what you're thinking," he folded his arms across his broad chest, sitting back into the plushy chair, "if I wanted you dead I wouldn't have tried to save you. Please, it'd be a load off my mind if I knew you were ok," he confessed.

Videl scanned his emerald eyes and only found sincerity.

Eating this thing was going against everything she was taught about stranger danger but she couldn't help but trust him. He had saved her life after all.

Bringing the bean to her face she gave a precautionary sniff before closing her eyes and placing it into her mouth.  
She chewed it twice then swallowed and within a few seconds she felt a warmth in her stomach rise up and wash through her whole body, like a strong gust of wind that blew all her ailments away. First she felt it in her side as the pain from the wound lessened and then in her chest where the stabbing faded into nothing.

Looking to the Gold Fighter with eyes wide she took a deep breath and felt no pain, "w-what?"  
Pulling up her night gown she manoeuvred herself around so she could see where the cut in her side had been only to reveal threaded stitches poking into her skin but no trace of a wound.

The cuts had disappeared from her arms, the headache she had been nursing had gone and now she wasn't even tired.

"What was that!" she exclaimed, throwing the blanket off and stretching all her limbs out.

"It was a senzu bean," he answered, "They have magical healing properties."

Videl scoffed, "magic doesn't exist," she automatically replied, still marvelling at her newly healed body.

Gohan just chuckled to himself, of course she'd deny magic even after witnessing it firsthand.

Magic beans and fully restored health aside she rounded on the other fighter, "who are you?"

Standing from the spot he'd made himself comfortable in he stretched, "I already told you, I'm a friend and I should leave." Turning he made his way back to where he had entered.

"Hold it right there Mr!" flinging herself off the bed she made a break to wedge herself between the Gold Fighter and his exit. Planting her hands on her hips she looked up into his face to hold his eyes with hers, "you aren't going anywhere until you tell me who you are," she demanded.

"Well…" he nervously looked around the room, "I'm the Gold Fighter."

"Nuh-uh buddy boy," Videl crossed her arms, "try again."

He shuffled his feet, gripping and ungripping the hand at his side he looked at her pleadingly, "I can't tell you who I am," he sighed, he stepped to the side and continued towards the window.

"Wait! Can I at least have a name?" she reached out for his arm and he turned to look where her skin met his, "well I can't just keep calling you Gold Fighter can I? Since somehow you keep showing up at all my crime scenes."

Videl let her hand drop to her side as she waited for his response.

"Junior." he said after a moment of silence, "you can call me Junior."

She smiled, having gotten something out of him, "Junior." she mimicked.

He smiled and nodded at her as he continued over to the window where he pushed back the curtains and levitated out into the open city air.

Seeing him out of the window Videl ran over before he could close it behind him, "wait!" she yelled out for the thousandth time that night. Leaning on the window sill she watched him float mid-air.  
"Thank you for saving me the other day." she blushed, not accustomed to being the savee instead of the saviour, "and thanks for coming to heal me."

He smiled, "anytime, Miss Videl."

With that he left her to watch him soar off into the sky to blend in with the stars.

"Whether you like it or not I'm going to find out who you really are one day Junior." She promised, returning into her room to gather all of her things.  
There was no point in her staying at the hospital any longer now that she was healed, it'd be easy enough to remove the stiches in her side by herself and she was not going to be forced into sleeping on that uncomfortable bed under that ungodly blanket.

Quickly changing out of her hospital gown and into the clothes her father brought her she slung her back pack over her shoulder and cracked the door open to check that nobody was in the hallway. Sneaking over to the stair case door she entered, firmly closing it behind her.

Now all she had to do was get past reception. She couldn't wait to get home.

-.

-.

Flying over buildings and roads making it back to the mountains Gohan landed near his parents' house, seeing their fire had dwindled down to nothing but ash and smoking embers he went inside and grabbed a bunch of blankets. Tip toeing over to the pack he gently laid out a blanket over each slumbering saiyan, careful not to wake them up and then settled into his own spot after throwing a number of logs onto the fire.

Hours ago when they had settled into camp the younger boys had complained about sleeping outside but Gohan had insisted they do it and they had been glad they had complied. They had never seen this many stars shine this bright before. The only time they had spent time out of the city was when they visited the ox king and even then they spent their time mostly eating and exploring the gigantic castle.

They fell asleep pointing at the pictures they connected in the sky, leaving Gohan to lie awake. He thought and he thought and he thought while he listened to the rushing stream behind them and the soft snores of his brothers.

He had forgotten how much he loved this place. Being out in the middle of nowhere was freeing, especially when this nowhere was all so familiar. You were free to do what you liked and be who you liked, no pressure.

After what felt like an hour he hadn't felt the tiniest hint of sleep wash over him and he started to think of Videl, wondering if she was ok or not.

To be completely honest the thought of his injured friend had lingered in the back of his mind since he had left her at the hospital the day before so after another few minutes of sleepless tossing and turning it was an easy decision to go and deliver a senzu bean and now that she was all better it was one less thing the teen had to worry about.

Now as he lay down on the grass Gohan looked to the stars as he wondered what Videl was doing now.  
When he sat in her hospital room he spent that short amount of time trying to familiarise her ki and now if he concentrated hard he could feel her out from even this far.  
Sliding his hands beneath his head he could feel her moving slowly through the city and only once she stopped and stayed in the same place for more than 10 minutes did Gohan let her ki fade in with the millions of others.

Now that he knew all his friends were safe and his brothers were right here with him in this beautiful place he let his eyes slip closed finally letting sleep take him.

All was good, life was great.

-.

-.

It had been hours since Vegeta had seen Bulma. She was mad at him and he had no idea why. In fact he didn't even know until 5 seconds ago.

Late Saturday night Vegeta casually drifted into her work space, leaning up against the wall he waited for her to roll out from underneath the sphere shaped craft to give him a full report on her weekends work. What he wasn't expecting was for her to roll out, see him and immediately try to throw anything within reach at his head as soon as he had asked.

Humph. Crazy bitch.

There were very few things he enjoyed more than pissing her off but how could he enjoy it when he didn't even know what she was annoyed at in the first place? Her short temper with him right now wasn't amusing, it was downright baffling and annoying.

"What the hell is your problem?" he grounded out, kicking the wrench that had just been flung at his head.

"What is my problem? Are you kidding me!" she barked.

The prince watched her fume as she stared him down, an angry fire shining in her cerulean eyes.

Folding his arms across his chest he gave her a glare that matched hers perfectly.

"How am I to know why you are angry when I haven't seen you in almost 12 hours wench," he smirked and turned away from her. He could practically hear her teeth grinding together in frustration.

"Do not call me wench!" Bending down she picked up a handful of metal tools and flung them all at the back of his head.

Vegeta ducked so they narrowly missed but as he came to turn around to face her one stray improvised weapon managed to clip him in the face.

Of course it didn't hurt but it was the principle. It was disrespectful and now he was mad.

Stomping over to his mate he grabbed her by the wrist just before she could get her hands on another metal object to throw. Pulling her over to a work stool he forced her down onto it. Crossing his arms and planting his feet firmly onto the ground he made it very clear that she wasn't going to be moving any time soon.

"This is your one and only chance to remove the stick from your ass," he firmly stated, "tell me what the hell your problem is before I decide it's not worth my time and I continue to ignore you."

Now the woman wouldn't look at him, defiantly she crossed her arms and directed her angry stare at the wall to her left. She looked like their bratty son when he got in trouble.

"I'm waiting," he impatiently stated.

She continued to look away from him but after a silent minute he could see all the thoughts mull over in her head, her brow softened and her bottom lip pouted out. Dear lord he hoped she wasn't going to cry. An angry Bulma he could handle but a crying one was a whole other ball game.

After another minute passed by she surprised him completely by standing up and walking back over to where she had been working.

"It's nothing," bending over to pick up the tools she had thrown at him she sat herself down onto her trolley, "I just want to get back to work," lying down flat she pushed herself back under the space craft leaving Vegeta to stand there absolutely miffed.

What the hell had just happened? How could one person go from screaming banshee to mopey mouse in less than a minute? How absolutely confusing and infuriating this woman was.

Bulma lay flat on her back staring into wires and bolts, listening to Vegeta's bated breath.

Feeling her shoulders relax she breathed out and just continued to lie still and stare into her work.

This was supposed to be their romantic weekend and she had been so excited for it. She had planned dinners and sweet little activities but as soon as their boys had left and she had pounced he had shown almost no interest in her.

She figured maybe he wasn't in the mood just then but when she had tried again a little later he had pushed her off him and instead ordered her to start on the long list of requirements for a ship. As if she were just another common slave.

So to say she was feeling ignored and underappreciated was an understatement. In fact she was furious because he didn't even know why she was angry at him.

Of course he had asked what was up but what was she supposed say? 'Why didn't you want to have sex with me' sounded too vulgar and 'why don't you want to spend time with me' sounded too childish. Especially since it'd been clear from the very beginning that he wasn't the most affectionate of people.

She obviously could never imagine him buying her flowers or kissing her sweetly for no reason but she needed at least some kind of affection. She was Bulma friggin Briefs, the most beautiful and smartest woman on this damn planet. She deserved some love and attention.

Suddenly Bulma felt her body being pulled out from her position only to come face to face with Vegeta's stony expression. She hadn't heard him leave but she hadn't heard him come over to her and pull her out.

"Wah-Vegeta!" she tried to push herself back in place but he had her firmly put.

"Are you carrying?" he cut her off, effectively bringing her struggling to a halt.

"A-Am I what?" she sat up, looking at him in confusion.

"Are you or are you not carrying another child in your womb?" he impatiently demanded.

"No! What gave you that idea?" pushing herself up and Vegeta out of her way she came to stand face to face with him, "Where is this coming from?"

"You are acting as crazy and irrational as you were when you had Trunks." He boldly stated, looking her square in the eye.

Bulma's eyebrows dropped low over her eyes, "excuse me?" she breathed.

"Do not stand there and act like you did not just go crazy at me for no reason!" he growled.

"For no reason!?" was this guy serious, "I didn't just 'go crazy' at you for no reason!" her hand tightened into a fist, he was really pushing her buttons today.

Vegeta just continued to stare at her in annoyance, if she wasn't being a hormonal bitch then what?

"What the hell is the problem then?"

For a moment she just continued to stare at him, mulling over whether or not she should just tell him. Folding her arms in a similar fashion to him she turned away.

"Where are the boys this weekend?" She asked him. She knew he wasn't going to figure it out himself and she didn't want to straight out say it so instead she was going to help him to realise.

The poor elder saiyan had never been so confused, what did the brats have to do with this?

When he didn't immediately answer Bulma peered over her shoulder to look at him expectantly.

"Not here?" he knew they were with Gohan up in those bug infested mountains but why did it matter?

"And how long are they going to be gone for and what have I been talking about all week?"

Vegeta tapped his finger against his arm and looked to the wall behind her. One of those questions he could answer but the other he was not so sure of.

When he didn't reply and continued to look away from her Bulma dropped her arms and turned to face him, "you are unbelievable!" she screeched, "Do you ever listen to a single thing I say?"

"How am I to know what you are specifically referring to when you talk nonstop!" he shouted back. Why couldn't the blasted woman just tell him what the hell it was? This little game was infuriating as hell.

Bulma opened and closed her mouth several times in an attempt to find the right words to tell him how much of an insensitive jerkoff he was but when he continued to just look at her like she'd lost her mind she had had enough. Walking straight past him she stomped into the ship she was working on and promptly closed the door behind her, leaving him to figure it out for himself.

As soon as that door clicked shut she heard The Shed door slam close.

He was such an asshole, an unbelievable and selfish asshole. She made a point of trying to talk to him every day to make sure he was included in her life but apparently he didn't care much for it.

Sometimes she had to wonder why they were even together. Because they have a son? Because they lived together? Which she knew was probably just out of convenience for him anyway.

And then there were the very rare times that she wondered if they were together at all. It was hard to tell sometimes. They had their little kisses here and there, a romp in bed or in the shower but really the only nonsexual thing they did that was intimate was share a bed. I mean they weren't even married. Well they weren't married properly anyway.

When Trunks had been born she needed to put someone's name on the birth certificate which meant she needed to make an identity for Vegeta and obviously it had been easier to just state that they were married and give him her last name.

She was so mad at him but at the same time just really sad.

What if he didn't want her? What was she going to do then?

It would be hard for someone like her to go out and do the dating thing. It always had been hard for her actually and that was all besides the fact that she didn't want to date anyway. She wanted Vegeta but if he didn't want her then she was sure she was destined to die alone.

Tired of standing there making herself sick with worry she mentally shook herself, turning around she opened up the door again and made her way back to where she was working.

She could do with a good distraction right now and she could think of nothing better than throwing herself into her work.

-.

-.

**Your feedback is always appreciated, even if it's negative!**

**Btw guys, new DB series and movie and game? How exciting is it to be alive.**


	8. Chapter 8

**As promised just a few days later here it is. The next one shouldn't be too long also c:  
After this chapter we start back at school and will have a little more development with Gohan and Videl but for now enjoy this one.**

**Disclaimer**

**Akira Toriyama owns all. Including my heart. **

**-.**

**-.**

Waking up to the sunlight warming your face, birds chirping and the rest of nature busy doing its own thing was, in Gohans mind, the most perfect way to wake up.

Too bad his morning started with a big bucket full of ice cold water.

"WAKE UP!" came the shrill voices of two soon to be very dead boys.

Inhaling deeply from the shock of the sudden coldness he successfully managed to make himself choke on the water, sitting bolt upright he coughed and spluttered as he rubbed the water from his eyes.

"What's the big idea!" he exclaimed. Once he managed to get his eyes clear he found the boys backing away slowly while Mirai rolled in the grass in laughter. They were all dead.

Pushing himself up faster than they could comprehend he snatched both boys up around their waists. Sprinting over to the stream behind the house he wasted no time in jumping in and holding them both down under the freezing cold rushing water, only letting them up for air every few seconds.

After their third dunk he let them go and they both splashed up to the shore and pulled themselves up to catch their breath.

"It – was – Mirai's – idea," Trunks said between pants.

Gohan levitated out of the stream to look over to where Mirai was still laughing.

"Don't worry, I'll get him too," he smirked, "when he least expects it."

Stretching his limbs out Gohan yawned, "why'd you wake me up?" he asked.

"You promised to take us to the dinosaurs!" Goten pushed himself up, his dripping hair hung in his eyes.

Mirai had finally dragged himself over to the other three, almost fully composed, "how about breakfast first?"

"Fish?" Gohan suggested.

"Noooo," Trunks whined, "we had fish all yesterday."

"Ok," Gohan thought, "dinosaur?"

"NO!" Goten shouted, "we can't eat the dinosaurs Gohan!"

"Ok, ok," Gohan relented, "looks like were having fruit for breakfast."

"Aw man, why didn't we bring any food with us?" Trunks pouted.

"Because when you camp, you truly camp." Gohan insisted, giving them the same excuse he had given the night before when they asked why they were sleeping outside.

His statement was met by eye rolls and groans. He sighed, they couldn't go home to get food because Bulma made him promise not to bring the boys back until after at least 5pm.

"How about we eat fruit just for now and then after we visit the dinosaurs I take you all for lunch?" That seemed to gain their attention, "and whoever can gather the most fruit in the next 5 minutes gets to pick where we go." He smiled knowing they'd never pass up a challenge, especially when the stakes were lunch.

After being warned not to eat anything they found just in case it was poisonous they lined up at the entrance of the forest ready to compete.

"Once I give the signal to come back you only have 60 seconds to make it back to camp or you're disqualified, got it?" he looked to them all and they nodded and grunted in return.

"Alright," he bent down, "on your mark, get set, go!"

Goten and Trunks ran in the same direction while Gohan and Mirai spread out on each side.

Gohan ran at what he thought of as a leisurely pace in order to keep his eyes open for any berry shrubs or apple trees he might pass. Stopping briefly in different places he stuffed his pockets full of fruit and after they were full he stripped off his shirt to use as a make shift holder.

After a few more minutes of scouting he set one arm full of fruit down to send a ki blast towards the sky. Once the shinning blue orb brushed past the treetops and flared high into the air he tightened his grip on the ball of energy until it crackled and exploded like a firecracker.

"Times up!" he shouted, his voice echoing through trees. Lifting up over the tree tops he sped back towards camp, counting down the seconds. He set down just in time to see Mirai emerge from exactly where he left but no Trunks or Goten yet.

With 20 seconds left on the clock Gohan started to count down the time left.

"10, 9, 8,7,6,5," his countdown was cut short when he peeked a whole tree hurtling through the sky over the forest, roots flailing and leaves falling from its branches, heading straight for his parents small mountain cottage.

Mirai dropped all the fruit in his arms and sprinted back, his eyes on the flying object, "I got it!"

With one push of his foot he glided up to grab the tree trunk with both of his hands, effectively stopping it in its tracks.

"Sorry!" Trunks emerged from the trees right after Goten, "I panicked."

Mirai carefully dropped down to the others and dumped the fuju tree in front of him, "you realise this doesn't count because we can't eat leaves and wood right."

"There's still fruit on it! I didn't have enough time to pick it all so I just took the whole tree." He pulled out all the other food he had stuffed in his gi and let it roll to the ground, "anyone smart enough would have done the same thing because I'm pretty sure I've won by a mile."

"I'm just going to agree with you because I'm starving," Gohan said, "lets eat!"

Trunks cheered and Goten sighed in disappointment, "aw man."

They began to pile all the food together and Gohan walked over to his brother, "don't worry buddy, you can pick where we go for desert. How does that sound?"

He instantly brightened, "thanks Gohan!" he ran over to Trunks and they started discussing where they wanted to go.

Without further hesitation the four dug in to their healthy breakfast, ready to start their day.

-.

-.

Bulma had slept inside the ship last night in what was to be Vegeta's room for his trip into space.

He had promised his elder son a ship to take back to his timeline and yesterday morning he had come to Bulma asking for her to ready the fastest craft they had. He hadn't really gone into too much detail on what he was doing or where he was going but he said he'd need the ship to travel somewhere to get another ship? She wasn't sure exactly but she knew he'd be gone for months.

Thanks to her late night work binge all the upgrades he had requested had been finished, the shelves and fridge jammed packed with food and now all that had to be done was the filling of the water tanks.

She felt awful about last night, she let herself get worked up over something she shouldn't have and had possibly messed up the system they had working in the past few years.

The question now was should she or should she not talk to him before his trip?

She'd have to think about it.

-.

-.

It had taken a great effort to pull Goten away from all the dinosaurs, he and Trunks had spent hours playing with all the fresh little hatchlings and then later wrestling the fully grown parents but in the end hunger had won out and they flew back into the city for a late lunch.

One long and gruelling hour later they could be spotted walking into the mall as every restaurant they tried to enter had denied them entry on account of the mud caked into their clothes and shoes. Gohan didn't feel too easy about coming here since he knew a lot of the kids that went to his school came here to shop and hangout. So at a nice brisk pace he led the boys through the crowd towards the food court.

Stopping at an ATM he pulled out his wallet to withdraw money, handing it out to each person so they could go and order their own food from whatever shop they wanted.

Walking over to a big vacant table he sat by himself and waited for the others to return to him before he got up to get his own.

He could feel his stomach churning in hunger and he found himself wishing they'd hurry up. Tapping his fingers against the table he waited his turn until out of nowhere his vision was blocked by a pair of dainty and smooth hands.

"Guess who!" the stranger squealed.

"Erasa?" there was no mistaking that peppy voice.

She dropped her hands down to his shoulders and leaned over so he could see her, "hi Gohan! What are you doing here?"

Standing back up she moved to the side and pulled the chair out next to Gohan and promptly sat down.

Gohan smiled, "my brothers were complaining about being hungry so we're here to eat."

He had been worried about bumping into anyone here but if he had to choose out of all of his class mates Erasa would be his first choice. She already knew about his living situation.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"I just came from Videls house, I'm here for food too," she admitted, "she was in the hospital! Did you know?"

Gohan bit the side of his cheek, "uh, uh, what?" he spluttered, "h-how is she?"

"Oh she's fine. Like freakishly fine, she said the Gold Fighter came to her last night and did something? I don't know but she's like weirdly obsessed with him now." She said, playing with her nails.

Gohans face began to burn, "how do you mean?"

"Weeeeeeelll," she thought, "she didn't shut up about him the whole time I was with her and-" Erasa gasped.

Standing at a counter just across from her she spotted the purple haired god that had helped her up the other day. Gohan watched as she sat up straighter and started to groom her short blonde hair.

"Do I look ok Gohan?" the conversation had shifted so quickly he didn't know what was happening.

"Uhh sure?" Following her gaze he spotted his friend through the crowd, waiting at a counter as several flustered workers piled dish after dish onto three trays before him.

"Should I go talk to him? What do I do?" she turned to Gohan, "would he totally reject me if I just went up and said hi?"

"Why would he do that?" Gohan puzzled, were people that rude?

"I don't know, what should I say?" she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a soft pink lip balm and began to apply it to her lips.

"You could ask if he needs help bringing the food over," he suggested.

"Great idea!" rubbing the balm in she shoved the tube back into her shorts and stood, "I'll be back."  
She gave him a sweet and confident smile over her shoulder as she walked towards Mirai.

Erasa brushed her hand over his arm and the boy turned to look at her, "hi," she smiled.

Gohan watched them from where he sat, it looked as if Erasa was doing most of the talking until one especially crabby looking server pushed his trays of food towards them. Erasa pointed to the tray and then held both her palms out flat in front of her. Mirai picked one up and carefully sat it down in her grip and then picking up the other two trays they made their way over to the table.

"Thank god, I thought I was going to die of starvation before anyone got back." Gohan pushed himself out of his chair, "would you like me to get you anything while I'm up E?"

"Oh, no that's ok Gohan I was just going to go get some sushi," she placed the tray she had down on the table and turned to make her way to her favourite sushi shop, Gohan in tow.

Almost as soon as they had left both of the boys returned to the table, balancing tray after tray upon each other.

"Do we have to wait for Gohan to get back or can we just eat?" Goten said, unstacking all his trays and spreading them out on the table.

"I'd probably say you could start eating," Mirai told him as he contemplated what to start with, "we're going to need more room on the table for when Gohan comes back."

By the time Gohan had come back there was already a nice healthy size of dishes stacked in the centre of the table. Setting down his own trays he didn't even hesitate in digging in. He was absolutely starving.

"Erasa!" Goten had stopped eating long enough to acknowledge and say hello to her when he spotted her moving through the crowd. Which was surprising because once Goten started eating it was almost impossible to get him to stop.

"Hey, cutie," seeing that the only chair left was one in between Goten and Mirai she moved around the table and before she could even free her hands to pull out her chair Mirai had beat her to it.

"Thank you," she smiled and he blushed.

After all the boys had finished eating they sat back in their seats, content and completely satisfied.

Erasa looked to them all in shock, her untouched sushi roll laying idle on the table, "you guys must have been pretty hungry," she said eyeing up the stack of dishes that occupied most of the table.

"This is nothing, you should have seen the way Gohans dad ate," Mirai said to her.

"If it's worse than that I'm not sure I'd ever want to witness it," she laughed. Suddenly the chimes of her cell phone ringing interrupted their conversation and she excused herself.

"Can we go home now Gohan?" Trunks asked.

Looking around for a clock he spotted one that read 4:25, they still had a good half an hour until they were meant to go back but there wasn't much he could do with them. After agreeing he told them all he was going back into the mountains to clean up and retrieve his parents' house, Goten quickly volunteered to accompany him.

Erasa returned just a second later, "I have to go," she started to clean up her rubbish, "it was nice to see you all though."

Bending down she kissed Goten on the cheek and then forced Trunks to sit still while she gave him one too, "I'll see you at school tomorrow ok Gohan," she smiled at him and then waved and winked at Mirai.

"Upset you didn't get a kiss goodbye Mirai?" Gohan wiggled his eyebrows at him when he noticed he was watching her walk away, a nice tint of pink colouring his cheeks.

"Shut up," he shifted his eyes and started to pile the dishes and trays into a pile.

After they had sorted out their wastage Gohan led them up to the roof top where they went their separate ways.

"When you get home you should probably announce your arrival very loudly," Gohan said to Mirai, "just incase."

The other saiyan looked at him first in confusion and then realisation struck and then embarrassment, "maybe we'll take a lap around the world before going home."

"Hey Trunks, how about a race around the world?" he flew up into the air to meet him.

"Ok! Ready, set, go!" he shouted, taking off without Mirai.

"Cheater!" powering up he immediately chased after him.

"Ready to go?" Gohan asked, watching the others disappear into the sky.

Goten lifted up into the air, "race you there!" and off they went.

-.

-.

The boys had finally come home and they were midway through dinner. Vegeta nibbled here and there at the food in front of him, staring at the silent woman across from him.

Bulma had dragged herself from her hiding place to join them but she had hardly even touched the food on her plate.

He still didn't understand, she was angry last time he checked but now she looked sad again. If she wasn't pregnant then he didn't understand where her moods were coming from. Especially since the reason that brought them forth still remained a mystery.

Food on the table steadily depleted and before he knew it bots were picking up empty plates and the boys were leaving the table. Once Goten and Trunks left Bulma left with them, Gohan and Mirai following suit.

"Marai." Vegeta grunted before he vacated the table.

"Hm?" he turned his attention to his father.

"Stay," he insisted, "we have something to discuss."

Gohan stretched his arms out and left for the shower and Mirai settled back into place.

"What's up dad," he curiously asked.

Pushing his empty plate away from himself he sat up straight in his seat and cleared his throat, "I promised you a ship to take back to your timeline," he started, "there is a check in station that Frieza and his men used to use near this planet."

Mirai sat up a little straighter, letting his father unravel his plan.

"I visited there once when you were born," he had visited alright, he had destroyed every person there, "if nobody has been there since Friezas demise then it is highly possible that there'll be multiple space pods I could take."

"That's great da-"

Vegeta cut him off mid celebration but his sons smile didn't falter, "I make no promises," he said bluntly, "that planet could have been ransacked years ago."

"But at least we would have tried," Mirai said, "when do we leave?"

"I will go alone," he told him.

He had to go alone. He was potentially walking into a planet that could have inhabitants that wanted his head on a platter and if it happened to be then he was only left with the option of killing them all. He didn't want to risk having anyone or thing follow him back to earth or have his family mixed in with his past life, he didn't want them to have to know that side of him because it was there. He would kill without a second glance and he supposed that made him a monster but he had lived with it for so long it was just a part of him.

Mirai slumped down into his seat, he wanted to help but if his father said he was going alone then he dare not challenge him.

"Well what about getting there?" he didn't know much about the technology yet in this timeline but from what he could imagine a ship that would be able to take him that far would take months to get him there.

"I've had your mother prepare a ship over the weekend," he told him, "it will take 3 months to reach this planet but the trip back should be much faster if I am successful in finding a space pod."

"Moms been working on a ship? All weekend?" Trunks asked.

Vegeta only raised a brow in question.

"I mean, I thought you guys were having some kind of weekend together." he said, shifting in his chair awkwardly.

Vegeta's eyebrows knit together in confusion. What the hell was he talking about?

After a moment Mirai lifted himself from the table, seeing a chance to escape the coming conversation.

"Sit." he commanded and he did as he said, "weekend?" he asked.

Slumping back down in his chair he sighed, no escaping this time.

"Yeah, she was talking about it all week," he said, "she had plans and stuff for you guys while we were all away."

"What plans?" he frowned.

"Y'know," he blushed, "couple things.."

Fuck.

Mirai fiddled with his thumbs hoping he wouldn't have to explain further and Vegeta looked past him, feeling like an idiot because he was right. The damned woman had been yapping about it all week but he had been distracted with his plans for the ship.

Immediately he dismissed his son and walked out of the kitchen.

He felt a little better at knowing what exactly the problem was now but he was still irritated. He didn't understand why she was so angry about it. It's not like he ever had a history of doing 'couple things' as Mirai had put it.

Walking into his own little private sector of the compound that housed his gravity room he walked in and locked the door, stripping his shirt off he discarded it and turned the simulator on. Setting into a routine he lost himself to something familiar, something that made complete sense to him.

.-

.-

Having the boys home had helped Bulma feel a little more normal. After dinner she had bathed and then sat with Goten and Trunks and listened to all the interesting things they had to say about their weekend.

Little Goten had pulled her into his room to show him the new picture he brought home of his mommy and daddy and she was surprised to see a big portrait of Chi Chi and Goku on their wedding day lying idle against the wall.

Picking it up to admire it she sent Trunks down to the shed to get a tool kit so they could fit it onto his bedroom wall.

"Y'know kiddo, your dad would have loved you so much," she said, turning to smile at the boy who was sitting on his bed sucking his thumb.

He was such a precious little boy. He was exactly like his dad in every way. He had a love for every single living creature, he was so passionate about fighting and he was sweet and kind and just as bit as goofy as Goku was.

"Are you ok Auntie Bulma?" he pulled the thumb from his mouth and she came over to join him on the bed.

"Of course I am," putting her arms around him she pulled him into her lap and cuddled him close, "how come you chose the big one to bring home?" she asked.

He put a finger to his cheek and thought, "well, because my mommy looks real pretty in that one."

Bulma couldn't help the smile that crept up onto her face, "that's very sweet of you."

Trunks had arrived back with the tool kit and she got to work, measuring out the picture she drilled the screws into the wall and hung the canvas in place. All three of them stepped back to admire the smiling faces that now took up a good portion of the centre of the wall.

"Looks awesome," Trunks punched Goten lightly on the arm, "wanna go play?"

"Make sure you stay inside or your pjammas will get dirty!" she shouted after them once Goten had nodded his agreement.

Being left to stand there alone she took one last look at her happy friends and left, flicking the light switch off as she went.

Strolling down to the kitchen she opened up the fridge, she hadn't eaten much today and she was feeling peckish. Bending down she found a white cardboard box she had hidden in the back of the fridge.

Opening it up she found three trays full of neatly lined and stacked chocolate covered strawberries. She had ordered them for her and Vegeta but she didn't see why she couldn't eat them now.

Closing the fridge she took her box up stairs and walked towards her room. Walking past Gohans door she stopped when she found him sitting at his desk writing away. Probably trying to catch up with all the homework and study over the weekend. With his headphones on he didn't hear her enter as she opened the box and pulled out a tray and sat it at his elbow.

He looked up at her and she just smiled back, picking up a strawberry he thanked her and she left.

Entering hers and Vegetas room she could hear the shower running in their bathroom. Putting the box onto the bed she climbed up and made herself comfortable. Flicking the lid open she grabbed a strawberry and then another and another until half the tray was gone.

Hearing the shower stop running she gave a deep sigh. She felt like such an idiot. She had thought long and hard that afternoon about yesterday and she decided that she didn't want to live without him which meant she had to accept that he was ignorant when it came to the matters of the heart.

The door opened and out came Vegeta after a wall of steam. Bulma plucked another sweet from the box and paid an unnecessary amount of attention to it.

Vegeta walked to his side of the bed and sat on the edge, facing away from her he continued to rub his towel through his wet hair.

Bulma shifted uncomfortably where she sat, nibbling on the chocolate coating of her strawberry.

"Vegeta?" she tentatively asked.

Turning his head slightly he grunted in return to show she had his attention.

"I'm sorry about last night," she said, eyes on her food.

Turning his head back he ran the towel over his head one more time before balling it up and throwing it into the open bathroom door.

"It doesn't matter," he grunted.

Bulma ate the rest of the sweet in her hand and discarded the stalk. Picking up a new one she crawled over to Vegeta to sit right behind him. Resting her chin on his shoulder she snaked her arm between his arm and torso, bringing the strawberry up she offered it to him.

He turned his head to look at her and she smiled warmly when he opened his mouth to let her offer her little peace token. When she was only left with the stalk he took it from her hands and set it on the bedside table.

Letting her arms relax she let her hands fall and rest on his hips as she rested her forehead on his back. Letting her eyes fall closed she kissed around the muscles, up his spine and over his neck.

His head fell back and his eyes slid closed as Bulma continued to kiss him. Each time her smooth velvet lips touched his skin it sent tingles through his whole body. Turning his head he let his nose brush against her face as she continued her silent love assault.

Making her way up she came to meet his lips and she kissed him tenderly, encasing him in her arms she held him tight.

Vegeta let himself kiss her back. He guessed he owed her as much, she had spent all weekend working at his request when she had only wanted to spend time with him.

Unclenching his hand he brought it up to untangle her hands from his waist, continuing their lip lock he twisted his body around and urged her to move back and lie onto the bed. With one leg resting between her thighs and his body half a top her and half a top the bed they continued their little session, heat rising steadily.

Slipping his hand under the bottom of her pjamma top he held her hip and let his thumb caress the skin beneath it. Slowly he made to move his way up when two unsuspecting Saiyan brats bursted their way in.

"MoOOM! Can we have some chocolate str-," Trunks gasped and immediately turned on his heel to run out of the room. Goten gave a startled scream and threw both of his hands over his eyes but didn't make a move to leave.

The two abruptly separated, Vegeta grabbed at his fallen towel to put over his lower half, "get out brat!"

Trunks ran back into the room with his eyes jammed shut, he grabbed the back of Gotens shirt and yanked him backwards, "come on Goten!"

The door slammed closed and Vegeta fell back against the bed, turning over he stuffed his head into the pillow. Lying there waiting for his blood to circulate through his body properly he became distracted when he could hear Bulma laughing.

She began to laugh even harder when he peeked out of the pillow to look at her incredulously.

She supposed it wasn't funny because her kids will probably be scarred by this but it was just karma wasn't it? He had all weekend to do this while the kids were away and now look where they were. Rolling over she sat on the edge of the bed and fixed her shirt and messed up hair, "I should go check to see if they haven't died of embarrassment," she said picking up the box of treats, knowing full well that it was the reason they had come in here in the first place.

Taking out the half eaten tray she left it on the bed next to Vegeta and then tucked the box under her arm. Walking around the bed and over to his side she lifted the pillow to peck him on the forehead before leaving him on his own.

She guessed they hadn't really talked or sorted anything out but somehow everything felt ok with them. Humming she made her way down the hallway, ready to do some damage control.

-.

-.

**So what y'all think? **

**Thank you all for the reviews and encouragement. I promise not to keep you waiting for the next chaper.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Got a doozy for y'all this week, so get readin'!**

**Disclaimer**

**Akira Toriyama deserves to be the richest man on this planet for creating DB/Z/GT/SUPER, I own nothing.**

**-.**

**-.**

Monday morning the Briefs household had woken up earlier than usual to see Vegeta off on his space mission.

He had discussed it with Bulma the night before and they both agreed that it'd be better to get this done as soon as possible.

Feet firmly planted on the ground Trunks and Goten waved furiously as they watched the ship lift off. Only once it was nothing but a speck of dust in the morning sky did the two stop waving.

"Mom?" Trunks turned to his mother, "when is dad going to come back?"

"Well," Bulma smiled, he only just left, "if we're really lucky it will only be a little more than 3 months."

"How many days is that Auntie Bulma?" Goten rubbed at his tired eyes, leaning up against his big brother.

She hummed in thought, "90 days or so."

"That's a lot of days..." Trunks frowned.

"Gonna miss your dad?" Bulma nudged him with her elbow and true to his royal saiyan genetics he stuck his nose up in a proud and noble fashion.

"No. Just, who's going to train me and Goten now?" he lied.

"I'm sure between Gohan and I we'll be able to figure something out for you two," Mirai placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"Breakfast?" Bulma suggested, placing a hand on Trunks back she guided him inside and the rest followed. It was going to be a long few months.

-.

-.

Lately Videl had found it almost unbearable to be around her father. With the premiere of the new Satan Vs Cell movie just around the corner he had either been un-present or more self-obsessed than usual. Personally she thought he ought to be training for the martial arts tournament because this year he would be up against yours truly and she was determined more than ever to prove that she was worthy.

She had opted to give breakfast a miss this morning when she'd heard her father laughing with his companion of the night in the dining room and instead threw herself into an extra tense training session.

She hated when he brought these people home. She guessed it wouldn't be so bad if it was one woman he constantly brought over but it was always a different girl, each one dumb as a rock and as weak as a paperclip.

"Sweat pea?" her dad called out from the door of the gym.

She didn't answer, instead continuing her reps.

"Honey don't you wanna come have some breakfast before school?" he walked over to the mat she was doing her sit ups on.

Her face remained stony as she continued her training, "no." she curtly answered.

"But yo-"

"No, dad." Stopping her sit up mid sit she turned over and started a rep of push ups. Directing her angry stare at the matt beneath her. There was no way she was going to have breakfast with him and his call girl.

Hercule took a step back in surprise, he wasn't used to his little girl being so short with him.

"Now listen here Videl," he marched over to where her head was, "I know you want to be as strong as you can for the tournament but that doesn't mean you can talk to me like that," he chided, "if you push your training too much you'll hurt yourself."

Dropping to her knees she got up and walked away from him and over to the punching bag area. He just wasn't getting it, the training wasn't the problem.

"Hey, I was talking to you," he said, only a step or so behind her, "you can't push yourself too hard or you will over exert yourself and it doesn't help not to eat. I want you downstairs for breakfast."

"Well maybe I don't want to have breakfast with you and whoever that is downstairs!" she huffed, getting fed up when her father wouldn't stop pushing.

"You think you can always go around with all these floozy's," she continued throwing punch after punch at the bag before her, throwing them harder and harder each time, "but mom hasn't even been gone for that long!"

Leaning over she panted, willing herself to calm down and catch her breath. She couldn't see her father but she could feel him still standing there.

After a moment of silence he cleared his throat, "downstairs in 5 minutes or you're grounded."

Videl didn't see him leave but she heard the door click shut and once it did she stood back up and sent her hardest punch towards the punching bag.

_Crunch._

"FUU-" Videl cradled her fist, sucking in a deep breath she tried her hardest not to scream out in pain. Droplets of water skimmed the rims of her eyes and she willed them not to fall.

Letting the breath she was holding in escape she moved her other hand down to her wrist and held it in a death grip in an attempt to relieve a little bit of the pain.

Taking a seat on the bench she analysed the damage. Tentatively she let go of her hand, slowly trying to straighten out her fingers to assess the extent of the injury. Clenching her eyes shut she bit her lip as she couldn't get her hand to straighten completely without the pain becoming overwhelming.

Grabbing her wrist again she got up and left the gym, she wasn't going to be able to continue her workout and she needed to shower before school.

Briefly she thought maybe her father could take a look for her but then she remembered his ultimatum. It only took a split second to form her decision. Consequences be damned. She'd just leave for school and get the nurse there to check her hand out.

She couldn't be in this house this morning.

-.

-.

Gohan fell from the sky onto the roof of his school. It was kind of nice to be back after his weekend away and he felt extra confident this morning since Bulma had helped put together his clothes for today. Even he had to admit it felt good to look good.

Before going down and joining the rest of the student body he made an effort to smooth over his pants, fix his hair and re-tuck the white shirt he was wearing under the new grey cotton jumper Erasa had got him. He was sure she was going to be proud of him this time.

Running down the stairs with an extra pep in his step he rounded the corner hard only to run straight into an irritated looking Videl, making her drop her bag and cry out in pain.

"Could you watch where you're going!" she hissed, holding her arm close to her chest.

"Videl!" he gasped, "I'm so sorry!" kneeling down he picked up her back pack but when he went to hand it back to her he noticed her gripping her left hand that was, from his perspective, poorly bandaged.

She went to reach for her bag but he pulled it away, "you're hurt," he said, letting the strap of her bag hang over his arms he freed both of his hands to take her injured one delicately.

Unfastening the bandage he rolled it away so he could take a look. Holding her small hand in his palm he gently turned it over, he had seen this particular injury more than a handful of times.

"How far can you stretch it?" he asked.

Looking down at her hand she held a straight face as she showed him how far she could go. Trying to be brave she pushed it more than she probably should have and when she felt a sharp pinch she let out an impromptu squeak.

Cheeks turning red she looked to Gohan, ready for him to laugh at how weak she was. But it never came, he continued to look at her injury.

"Well you can get it passed a 90 degree angle so it's probably not broken," he observed, still holding her hand in his palm, "but we should go get an ice pack to get rid of the swelling and some bandages so it doesn't get worse."

"How would you know anything about it?" she looked at him wearily, taking back her hand.

He shrugged, "I've seen the same injury here and there," he hiked her backpack up onto his shoulder, "the faster you get that taken care of the faster it'll heal."

Videl scrunched her face up, Gohan could see her words of protest on the tip of her tongue but he wasn't going to give her a chance to voice them.

"Come on Videl, it's not going to kill you to let me carry your stuff for a few minutes," he insisted, stepping to the side he invited her to take the lead and after a silent few seconds she finally succumbed.

"Fine," she sighed, "thanks."

Walking side by side down the corridor Gohan took a glance at Videl to see how she was fairing only to find her looking up at him.

"Is everything ok?" he asked.

"You look different today," she observed, not really sure what it was.

"Oh! New clothes, what do you think?" moving his hands to the side he showed her his outfit, "Bul- uh, my mom, helped me out with the clothes this morning."

"Not bad," she shrugged, "an improvement from your 'dad clothes'" she grinned.

"Maybe, I'd still rather wear those clothes though but this makes Erasa happier," he smiled, hoping he'd make her proud with his choices today.

"Heh," she snorted, "it took me years to make her realise that I wasn't going to wear the clothes she brought, you just gotta stand your ground."

"But she's so persistent, I figured if I just gave in maybe she'll leave me alone. Y'know she threw out more than half of the clothes that were in my closet," he whined, "and my mom and brothers helped her! Could you believe it," looking to his side he spied a chuckle or two escape Videl and he was glad to see her lighten up a little bit, "I swear once that girl gets an idea in her head there's no stopping her."

"You're preaching to the choir," she giggled, "a few years ago before we were friends with Sharpner she practically forced him to date her."

"What!" Gohan almost tripped over his own feet, "You mean Sharpner is the one guy Erasa has dated?"

Videl hummed in confirmation, "it only lasted a few days though."

"That's… really surprising," Gohan said.

"How? I can't imagine any girl putting up with Sharpner much longer than that," she joked.

"No, not Sharpner," he shook his head, "I meant Erasa only having dated one person and it being Sharpner, she seems like the kind of girl that most people would like, yknow, in that way."

Videl raised her brow at him, did Gohan like Erasa?

"Well to be fair a lot of people do or at least did like her in that way but she's never really paid any attention to them." Videl explained.

Finally arriving at the nurses' office Gohan opened the door for Videl, "I'll wait out here with your stuff," he told her. Much to her relief. Stepping inside she left him with a nod and he casually leaned up against the wall.

Running his hands through his hair he thought about how long his hair used to be, wondering if he should get a haircut or not. Maybe he'd ask Erasa what she thought.

Continuing his own train of thought, minding his own business he hadn't noticed Erasa walking down the corridor until she let out her signature high pitch squeal. Gohan was beginning to think this was the way she let others know of her presence.

"Gohan!" running through the other students she came over to hug him, "oh you look so adorable today."

Bringing his arms up he wrapped them around her back, "I gather you like the new outfit."

Pulling away slightly she looked down at his clothing choices, "definitely. You'll have girls all over you before you know it."

At that moment Videl chose to emerge from the door beside the two, sling now fastened around her arm and neck.

Videl cleared her throat, "am I interrupting something?"

Pulling away from each other Erasa immediately approached her, "oh Videl, now what's happened to you," she sighed, untangling her friends' hair from the top of the sling.

"Training accident, that's all." Holding out her arm she motioned for Erasa to take the hair tie that was around her wrist, "can you tie my hair up, I don't care how I just want it out of my face."

Erasa gathered all of her hair, combing her fingers through it to get it to sit right she tied it in a high ponytail and then twisted it into a bun. Holding it in place she took one of the clips from her fringe and pinned it to hold it.

"You should be more careful," Erasa chided, "I swear you've been getting yourself hurt a lot lately."

"I'll survive," she shrugged.

Erasa didn't get to continue to voice her concerns over Videls health since the bulky police watch on her wrist buzzed to life and she immediately answered it.

"Go ahead chief," she said into the receiver.

"There's a bit of a situation down at the town square," he grunted out, "a gang of men are holding people hostage and demanding to see your father but we've been unsuccessful in contacting him."

Videls features took on a hard edge, "did you try the home line?"

"We did but we were told he wasn't available," he said, "I know you're at school Videl but we need you."

Dropping her arm she scowled, she had seen him not even 20 minutes ago and not even dressed, so it wasn't like he was going anywhere in a hurry.

"Videl, don't tell me you're going to go," Erasa frowned, "you're hurt!" she went to grab her hand but she pulled it away and back to her face.

"I'll be there in 10," she disconnected the call and turned on her heal but Gohan quickly stepped to the side to block her way.

"Erasa's right, you could get killed! Why don't you let the police handle it," he suggested but it only proved to frustrate her.

"I can handle it myself!" she slipped the sling on her arm off and stuffed it in her pocket and then held her hand out for her bag.

"Please don't go," he pleaded.

But she wouldn't have a bar of it, "give me my stuff," she said.

Gohan looked to Erasa but she didn't have anything for him so reluctantly he let the bag slide from his arm and then handed it to her.

Hiking it onto her shoulder she turned and left, Erasa wishing her a soft good luck as she walked away.

Gohan didn't know what to do. He couldn't let her go, she would die going into that with only one arm but he couldn't miss class, if he kept up and leaving all the time eventually his attendance record would plummet and he'd be expelled.

"Why is she so stubborn," he asked Erasa.

She shrugged, "I don't know but I sure hope the Gold Fighter will be there, it's the only way she isn't going to get hurt."

The bell for roll call began to ring and immediately students began to shift and move but he continued to watch his friend walk away.

"I'm sure he'll probably be there," readjusting the strap of his bag he turned to face her, "I'll see you later."

Exchanging their goodbyes he waited until Erasa rounded the corner and without considering much else he ran for the rooftop, once he broke out of the door he stripped off his new jumper and white shirt and left it in pile with his bag before jumping into the sky and taking on his Golden persona.

Maybe if he defused the situation fast he'd be back in time for first period.

-.

-.

Videl slammed the door of her copter closed behind her when she landed on the rooftop of her house.

10 minutes it had taken her to get to the scene and by that time they didn't even need her. Apparently the Gold Fighter had wrapped this up quickly and she was told to go back to her classes.

Being dismissed only caused to frustrate her and so she gave up on the idea of going back to school. There wasn't really a point in doing so anyway since she stuffed up the hand she used to do everything with and she didn't think she had the temperament to deal with everyone at school today.

Silently she had slinked through the house and slipped into her room and had been sitting in there doing nothing for the past few hours. She felt absolutely useless. She couldn't train until her hand got better, she couldn't write until her hand got better and she couldn't work and on top of that she was probably going to be grounded when her father found her.

Pushing the book she had on the bed with her out of the way she lay back onto the bed and closed her eyes

Today really wasn't her day and if she slept maybe it'd be all over by the time she woke up.

-.

-.

Gohan hadn't lingered after dealing with the towns square situation, he wasn't kidding around when he had wanted to be back before first period and thanks to his impeccable speed he had been lucky enough to arrive just in time to catch the end of rollcall, eliminating the need for him to sign in late.

All day he had waited for Videl to return but she hadn't. Second period he had math with her but she was a no show, first break she was a no show and for the rest of the day she was a no show. Gohan began to wonder if she was ok.

He could feel her ki within the city limits but she didn't move from the same spot for hours so once it came to the end of PE Gohan had slipped out immediately and headed straight for home.

Dropping his stuff off and changing into his gi he left out of his window to find her.

This girl was so troublesome, she had him constantly worried about her wellbeing and it was beginning to get frustrating. He had never really had to watch out for someone this much, mostly because the people he knew were either superhuman, not human, or didn't go out looking for trouble but Videl seemed to attract it in buckets.

Pushing through the sky he headed east until he could feel Videl somewhere directly below him. Luckily for him it seemed she was on a large and secluded property so it wasn't a problem for him to drop in out of the sky.

Landing down onto the grass of the lawn he stood against the wall and felt for her energy. She was inside but he didn't know which window to look in. Levitating up he moved until it got stronger, moving around to the other side of the house he eventually touched down onto one of the bigger balconies on this side.

Peering into the glass he found her sleeping soundly on the bed, her hair was out and in a mess all over her face, she looked so peaceful that for a second Gohan thought maybe it wasn't a good idea to wake her up but after only a moment of hesitation he decided she'd probably want what he had for her.

Tapping on the glass he watched her wake up. First her eyes fluttered open and her chest heaved as she took a deep breath in for air. Slowly she rolled her head to the side, spotting him waving to her from outside.

Rubbing at her tired eyes she used her good hand to push herself up and then roll off her bed. Dragging herself over to the door she unlatched it and pulled it open.

"Junior?" she squinted when her eyes didn't adjust to the light, "what are you doing here?"

"I have a gift for you," he pulled a small brown bag from his pants pocket. Untying the strings around it he opened it up.

Videl took a step closer, brushing the hair from her face she reached up onto her toes to see what it was.

"Are those-"

"Senzu beans," he nodded, shaking one out he broke it in two, giving one half to her and then putting the other back in the bag, "this'll be enough to heal that," he pointed to her bandaged hand.

Taking it between her thumb and index finger she put it in her mouth and started to chew.

Instantly he knew the moment she swallowed the bean, the colour in her face became livelier.

Gohan retied the strings together and then gently he took her injured hand and unwrapped the bandage around it. Stretching her hand all the way out he placed the bag in her newly healed palm.

"You're giving me these?" she looked down at the package in her hand.

"Uh-huh," he nodded, "use them wisely though, they are pretty hard to come by."

She looked up at him in puzzlement, "why are you doing this?"

He raised an eyebrow at her in question, "I can't look out for you?"

"Well you could," she placed her hands onto her hips, "but what's in it for you?"

"How about peace of mind?" he told her but she continued to look at him with suspicion.

"Really," he insisted, "I like to know you have something to fall back on in case one day I'm not there. It's good to know you aren't lying out in a ditch hurt," he confessed.

"Yeah bu-"

"You ask a lot of questions," he chuckled, "can't you just accept that I don't want you to be hurt and say thank you?"

It took a little more effort than it should have for her to not fire off another question but she swallowed them whole and accepted the beans, "thank you," and maybe for the first time ever she gave Gohan a genuine smile, "BUT," she continued, "I will only accept these if I can give you something in return."

Turning she walked inside, motioning for him to follow.

Bending down she took the beans and placed them in the top draw of her bedside table and then she continued to rummage through it. Seconds later she pulled out and dusted off a watch that was identical to the one she was wearing now.

"This will come in handy if we ever need you," she held it out for him to take.

Gohan came over to stand with her by the bed, taking the watch from her, opening his mouth he went to thank her but he never got the chance.

There came a knock at her door.

"Videl," her father called out, "I'm coming in."

Videl unceremoniously pushed him to the floor, "under the bed!" she quietly hissed.

Doing as she said he rolled underneath into the corner far away from the door, he was lucky the bed was a good size or he would never have fit underneath it. Deciding it was safe to change out of the super form he powered down so the light wouldn't shine out from under the bed.

Videl quickly walked over to the door, catching it before it could fully open.

"Yes?" Videl, didn't mean for it to come out as rude but it did sound like it.

Her father crossed his arms over his broad chest, "we need to talk missy, I just got a call from your school saying you didn't go back to class today."

"I hurt myself so I came home," she said.

"Well you don't look hurt to me," he countered.

"Well neither do you dad and the force really needed you this morning," she was still mad that he had blown off the emergency this morning, "people could have died because of you! And don't tell me you weren't available because I had seen you minutes earlier with that floozy."

"Now don't you take that tone with me," he chided, "and stop calling her a floozy."

"Fine, I won't call her a floozy if you can tell me what her name was." She crossed her arms over her chest in a mirror image to her father, looking to him expectantly she smirked when he began to splutter.

"Cas – Cassie, Cassidy?"

"That's what I thought," she went to close the door, wanting the conversation to be over but her father jammed his foot in the way. Pushing the door open he walked in and Videl backed up.

"Sit down," he demanded and reluctantly she did as he said.

She was hyperaware that Junior was under her bed and she didn't want this conversation to go for long so she crossed her arms and legs and sat on the bed silently.

Pacing back and forth before her Hercule tried to find what he wanted to say.

"I know you miss your mom," he started, "and I miss her too."

Videl snorted, he had a funny way of showing it.

"BUT," he continued, "I can't continue to dwell on it forever. There comes a point where you have to move on and that's what I'm trying to do."

She began to scowl, it had only been a year and a half since her mom had passed on, it still felt so fresh in her mind that she just couldn't believe or understand how her father could move on so fast. She didn't know how he could bare it, everywhere she looked in this house there were small reminders of her and if he had ever truly loved her then he wouldn't be able to even look at another woman while he was in this house.

Thinking about it more and more Videl couldn't help the tears that were threatening to spill over, no matter how hard she tried to stop it they stubbornly fell.

Under the bed Gohan had been trying not to listen but they were so close he couldn't help it. At the moment there was no movement or no talking and after a while longer he saw Hercule walk towards the door and then Videl almost immediately after him.

Walking over to the bedroom door she closed it behind her father.

"You can come out now," she whispered, taking a seat on the bed.

Using her shirt to furiously rub at her eyes she sniffed and took a few deep breaths.

Peaking his head out from under the bed Junior looked up to see her looking away from him. Crawling out from his hiding place he silently sat next to her.

Videl was so embarrassed, Junior had probably heard the whole domestic dispute and on top of that she was showing him how weak she was by crying about it.

"I'm sorr-" she began to apologise but he didn't give her a chance to.

"No! No, you don't need to apologise," he looked down at his hands, beginning to play with his thumbs, "I know how hard it can be to lose a parent."

Videl looked at him, wiping away yet another stray tear, "your mom or dad?" she asked.

"Both," he told her.

She breathed out a shaky sigh, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's ok," he shrugged, "it's been a while now so it's not so bad. The pain gets easier to live with over time."

Videl nodded and they fell into a small period of tense silence.

"Can I tell you something?" Junior hesitantly asked, turning to her she nodded her consent.

"My mom… She was so crazy, there wasn't a time that she wasn't yelling about something," his lips curved slightly into a smile as he pictured her in his mind, "she was always so lively, she'd be up at the crack of dawn always cooking or cleaning or running errands or complaining about everything and anything."

Videl didn't interrupt or even move, she simply sat and listened with contempt.

"So when my dad had died it was torture," his warm smile began to fall and he began to wring his hands, "she didn't get up anymore, she didn't cook or clean, she didn't even complain about anything," he took in a deep breath, "every night I could hear her crying for my father and eventually I just couldn't take being at home or being around her anymore."

Clearing his throat she could tell he was having a hard time in continuing his story so gently she rested her hand on the small of his back, rubbing in soothing circles.

"I wish she could have been strong enough to move on," he looked her straight into her big blue eyes, "in her last months she looked so defeated, she gave up on her life and no matter what I did or said I couldn't bring her back," he frowned deeply, "she was dead long before she passed on."

Videl started to tear up again, she didn't usually cry so much but the flood gates had already been opened and she couldn't help it seeing the sad look on Juniors face. This was a person who she had only known to be selfless and endlessly kind. Someone so pure didn't deserve to see their own mother die slowly right before their eyes.

Reaching up he brushed the tears from her pale cheeks, "I know this may not be my place to say but maybe your dad moving on isn't such a bad thing."

Her lip began to uncontrollably quiver.

"I think if my mom had been able to move on she'd still be here with me and my little brother."

Videl watched a single tear fall from his salty sea coloured eye and that was it. Letting her ropes completely slip she began to cry harder than she had since her mothers passing. Hunching over she hid her face and cried into her palms.

"I-I just mi-miss her so much," she sobbed, "I d-don't understand how my father can do it."

Junior reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a few tissues before he got down onto the floor to kneel in front of her. Slowly he tried to get her to lower her hands and looks at him.

Taking the tissues from him she gave a shaky thank you and began to wipe her tear struck cheeks.

"I know it must hurt you to see your dad move on so quickly," he took the hand she had resting in her lap and held it tightly in both of his, "but it's better than him being dead on the inside," he let his chin rest on their hands, "it's not just them that dies on the inside, it effects everyone around them."

Videl pulled her hand from his and before he knew it she was kneeling on the floor with him, both of her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

"I'm so sorry about your mom," she sniffled into his neck.

The Gold Fighter raised his arms up and slipped them around her small waist.

"Thank you," he let his chin rest on her shoulder and she closed her eyes and let her head lean against the side of his.

"I should be thanking you," she sniffed.

Pulling back slightly she found their faces were closer than she thought. The tip of his pointed nose almost brushed hers and she found herself looking right into his pine green eyes.

She had always thought that being this close to his glowing aura would at least blind you or burn you but with them only centimetres apart she had found neither to be the case.

She could feel his face getting closer and closer and her heart began to flip in her chest. She clenched her hand closed tight when his nose touched hers and she could feel his hot breath skim over her tear soaked face.

They were so close together that it only took the smallest movement and Videl was grazing her lips against his.

Pulling back only a millimetre she only registered him taking a deep breath in through his nostrils before he pushed his lips fully against hers, intense yet soft in his touches.

Junior tightened his grip on her only slightly as he lent into her, pushing her back up against the side of the bed.

He continued to kiss her, the two only taking small breaths in between changing sides. Videl felt like a bomb had gone off in her stomach, sending wave after wave of heat through her whole body.

Dropping the tear soaked tissue to the floor she used her hands to clench his shirt and play with the hair at the nape of his neck. This was when he pulled away.

Letting his forehead rest on hers he took deep and precise breaths, "I should go," he murmured, unwinding his hands from her he stood and made for the balcony.

Videl pushed herself up onto the bed, finding the watch she wanted him to have resting on the blanket beside her. Scooping it up she ran after him.

"Wait!" she yelled and he turned back to look at her, feet already off the balcony.

Holding up the watch by the clasp he hovered back down to take it from her.

"Promise you'll talk to your dad," he said.

Videl nodded, letting go of the watch, "I will"

Placing the gadget into his pocket he waved, giving her a half smile, "until next time."

She smiled back up at him, returning his wave she watched him as he left.

-.

-.

Later that night Videl lay wide awake in bed. She really should've been asleep.

Thanks to Junior she had been able to throw herself back into her training and she had thought she had tired herself out but she couldn't sleep, she was too… Happy? Content with life? Satisfied? She didn't know but she felt good.

She had talked to her father not long after her session and they had sorted everything out. She had promised to leave him be and not to call the girls he brought home lewd names anymore if he promised her he wouldn't bring them around the house too often. She also managed to avoid getting grounded. Total win.

So she was able to work and train again, her and her dad were good, and well, she guessed she had enjoyed juniors' visit today.

Oh what the hell, she had done more than enjoyed it. In fact she hadn't stopped thinking about him since he had left. Mostly good thoughts but there was a little part of her that was worried that maybe it was a mistake. What if he didn't like it? What if he only kissed her because of the heat of the moment? What if he regretted it?

She had all these thoughts swirl around her head so much that she had to call Erasa and just vent it all to her. Looking back that probably wasn't a good idea because she definitely wasn't going to leave her alone tomorrow.

Rolling over she pulled the blanket up to her shoulders, evening out her breathing she tried to sleep when she heard her watch buzz to life on her bedside table.

Rolling over she expected to hear Hudleys frantic voice rattling off some new emergency situation but it didn't come. Instead she heard her name being softly called.

Recognising the voice she reached over and picked it up, smiling into her darkened room she lay her head back down, letting the device settle on the pillow next to her.

Still not having said anything yet Junior called out her name again.

"Hi," she softly answered.

"Hey, did I wake you?" he asked.

"No," she brought her hand up and began to bite at her already cropped nails.

"Good," he hummed, "I just wanted to say goodnight."

Her smile could not have gotten any wider, she didn't know how to reply so she fluttered out a short and sweet goodnight.

"Goodnight, Miss Videl," it had been maybe a minute or so before the watch beeped to let her know the transmission had disconnected and she replaced the gadget back onto the table.

Turning over she settled back into bed, smiling into her pillow knowing that he was thinking about her too.

Finally she felt like she could sleep.

**-.**

**-.**

**I was really nervous writing this chapter, being my first time writing I'm worried I'm not pulling these scenes off properly so if you have any advice feel free to let me know.**

**But now that the first kiss is out of the way the fun begins :D so I don't think you'll be waiting long for the next chapter.**

**ArmyWife22079**

**You are extremely lucky no one has ever walked in on you and your partner xD I pray it never happens to you chickydee **

**Anonymous **

**You're right, I tend to forget how powerful Gohan is. I've only just rewatched the Cell Saga and am embarrassed to see how much I stuffed up the power levels :L but alas I'll just have to look out for it in the coming chapters. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Emxdeezy + LVR4Trunks-n-Vegeta**

**Yes hello, I've noticed both of you always read the chapters and review and I just wanna say thanks and much love to yall mwah mwah mwah xxxxxx**

**THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR REVIEWS, YOU MAKE MY LIFE WORTH LIVING :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay for quick updates.**

**Btw some may notice I've changed the name of the story lol I feel the title I've got now is more fitting, 'Stable and Unstable' sounded too angsty :P oh and to answer a very popular question, there will be no Saiyaman. Although I love how dorky Gohan is when he steps into that persona I'd rather keep him as the Gold Fighter.**

**Anyway, anyone expecting more G/V fluff in this chapter is about to be sorely disappointed (soz) but you won't know unless you read it so yisss you know what to do.**

**Disclaimer**

**I in no way own any of the characters in this story, rights reserved to Akira Toriyama.**

**-.**

**-.**

"VIDEEEEELLLLLLL!" Erasa squealed as soon as she saw her best friend at her locker.

Videl couldn't see Erasa through the thicket of students but she could see people shifting out of the way, some even throwing angry insults after her.

Breaking through the last cluster of people she threw herself right into Videl. Wrapping her skinny arms around her she squeezed with a power you wouldn't think she'd possess.

"Oh Videl!" she cried.

The dark haired teen frantically tapped her shoulder, "can't breathe!" she gasped.

Pulling away Erasa swept the blonde hair that had fallen from her clip and into her face, "sorry," she apologised, "but I'm so excited, tell me everything!"

Turning around Videl stuffed her bag into her locker and shut it closed, "there's nothing to tell," she blushed, "I told you everything last night."

"Oh come on!" she moaned, "Tell me again, every single detail! Was he a good kisser? What did he smell like? How long did it go for? Oh my god did you feel him get har-"

Videl swerved around and firmly clamped her hand down on her mouth, "Erasa be quiet," she looked around, "I don't want the whole world to know. My dad will find out and I'll never have any news to tell you again." Letting go of Erasas' mouth she turned around, "and don't be so disgusting."

Side by side the two walked out to the spot their little group met up at in the mornings. Videl could practically feel Erasa vibrating next to her.

"So?" she pushed.

"Well, it was kinda slow at first," she said, "and awkward but then it got…"

"Good?" Erasa asked.

"Really good," she admitted.

"Oh, I still can't believe it," she dreamily sighed, "you and the Gold Fighter!"

Videl laughed, "let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Walking outside into the sun they spotted Gohan and Sharpner already sitting at their bench.

"Listen E, you have to keep what I told you between just you and me," she whispered to her, "promise me." Videl looked to her sternly when she didn't immediately reply.

"Not even Gohan?" she pouted.

"No! Promise me you won't tell anyone!" she huffed.

"Ok, ok," she relented, "but you're going to be telling me more about it later, deal?"

"Fine," she agreed.

Reaching the table Videl dropped her books down and took a seat next to Sharpner and across from Gohan.

"Hey boys," coming up behind Gohan Erasa hugged him, "oh honey you look great today, don't you think Videl?"

Videl nodded, "sure," his face began to turn a deep shade of red.

Erasa began to play around with the collar of his shirt, "if you can manage to dress this well for the rest of the school week you will have officially graduated my school of style."

Videl watched her fuss over his hair and clothes as he sat there continuing to look like a tomato. Getting into a small conversation with Sharpner they talked until the bell rang for roll call.

The boys went their separate ways and Videl walked with Erasa.

"You and Gohan make a cute couple," Videl teased.

"Couple? What are you talking about!" she squawked.

"Oh please," she grinned, "his face went as red as a strawberry as soon as we sat down and I totally saw you two outside of the nurses office yesterday," she put her hand on her hip, "If I didn't know better I'd say he has a crush on you."

"Well you're wrong," she sang, "maybe he has a crush on you! Besides I think I've fallen in love with someone." She sighed.

"Oh really," Videl chuckled, "anyone I know?"

"Just some dreamy hunk with an 8 pack. Literally, his abs have abs it's incredible." She laughed, "Anyway I'll tell you all about him later when you tell me all about you-know-who!"

The two split up and headed into their respective rooms.

Just a normal school day.

-.

-.

Throughout the day Erasa tried time and time again to talk to Videl about her new romance but each time Videl had told her to wait until they were alone.

Driving home from school today with the rest of her friends was the same as any other day. Erasa and Gohan got out at Satan Primary and she had stayed with Sharpner, watching them walk arm in arm together she couldn't help but wonder if anything was going on there.

She had hinted at it several times today because it was just so obvious. Gohan had been even quieter than usual and on top of that he was a constant shade of red all day, there was a bit there where she was concerned he got sunstroke during gym when he tried to talk to her and she couldn't make out a word he said and then there was yesterday morning when she had walked in on the two cuddling out in the hallway. She was definitely going to drill her when she came over for dinner tonight. They had no secrets between them.

Videl had just got out of the shower and now she was sitting cross legged on her bed, fumbling with her watch in her lap.

She didn't know whether or not to call Junior. She really REALLY wanted to but would that be cool with him or would he think she was being a freak? After a while of thought she decided she'd risk it, maybe she could get him to come over and they'd talk in person.

Flicking through the contacts stored in the device she tapped the ID that said 'Videl backup', holding in the communication button she waited for a pick up on the other end.

Resting her elbow on her knee she leant over and held her chin in her hand as she continued to wait and after what felt like an eternally long time a voice rang out into her quiet room.

"Hey!" he answered, "are you ok? Is something wrong?"

"No, I-" Videl suddenly stopped talking when she heard another sound come from the other end. It wasn't clear what exactly was said but she could definitely tell it was a woman's voice.

"Hello?" she called out, starting to scowl when he didn't answer, "hello!"

Every second he didn't reply made her more and more impatient and after leaving her waiting for a little longer he started talking to her in a hushed voice.

"Sorry I've gotta go bye," and hung up.

Videl looked at her watch in shock, did he just blow her off? For whoever that girl was?

Getting up off the bed she threw the watch into her pillow. She felt like such an idiot! How dare he play her like that, he had her thinking about him all day and for what reason?

Unwrapping the towel from her damp hair she threw it to the ground and started to get dressed. She just had a shower but she needed to go out and do something. If she were to stay home sitting around she'd feel even worse. Immediately she decided she'd go patrol the streets for a few hours she'd be able to kick some ass and blow off some aggression before Erasa came over for dinner.

-.

-.

Gohan and Erasa were knee deep in one of their study/tutor sessions, Erasa's math teacher had announced that they were getting quizzed tomorrow and she was hoping if she aced this test her dad would let her have her big birthday party so Gohan was trying to make sure she did her best.

"Flash card time!" shuffling his papers out of the way he picked up a pile of cards that had Erasa's name on it, "alright, you know the drill, I flash the card and you write it down on a spare piece of paper and then I mark it. Except today you only get 30 seconds for each problem," he grinned evilly at her, "AND they're brand new ones I made for you so no chance in remembering any of the answers."

"But why!" she pouted.

"This will tell me what we need to work on the most and it's good to be able to answer questions quickly," he shuffled the pile, "it guarantees that you'll complete the whole test within the time limit you've been given."

Erasa ripped out a piece of paper from her book and picked up a pencil, they were ready to begin when suddenly something started to ring. Erasa looked around the library in confusion, "can you hear that?" she asked.

Gohan froze. The watch, it was in his bag and ringing.

"Oh! Uh, that's probably my - thing," scooping up his bag he quickly excused himself.

As soon as he got around the door of the library he ripped the bag open to find the device in a small compartment, looking back he made sure no one was there before he answered.

"Hey! Are you ok? Is something wrong?" he quickly asked.

"Is everything ok?" Gohan swerved around to see Erasa standing at the door, holding the watch behind his back he covered its speakers so she couldn't hear Videls voice.

"No, every things fine! It was just the timer on a new prototype watch," he lied, "I think it's malfunctioning so I might just take it to Bulma real quick."

"Oh good because I need to go to the bathroom," she sighed, "let me just put these back real quick," she held up her pen and paper and then disappeared back into the library.

Gohan turned back to the watch and held it up to his face, "sorry I've gotta go bye!"

He felt bad for hanging up like that but Erasa was to come back any second now and there's no way in hell she wouldn't recognise the voice of someone she grew up closely with. He also couldn't be sure that she wouldn't recognise the watch.

Erasa emerged once more, "sorry, lets go."

They walked down the hallway and eventually Erasa turned into the bathroom, "hey could you get me a drink while you're up?" she asked.

"Sure," he waited until she closed the door and then he turned around and ran quickly up to his room. Opening up his bedside table he shoved the watch right into the back of the draw and covered it with whatever was in there. Once he was satisfied he shoved the draw close and left the room, walking at a fast pace he entered the kitchen and rustled up a few drinks and snacks to take back to the library.

He felt so guilty and rude. He had wanted to talk to Videl all day. He had tried to talk to her at a point or two but he just couldn't do it without being confident of not messing up his words and now she had called him and was probably mad as hell.

He'd just have to call her and apologise later, it was way too risky doing it while Erasa was here.

-.

-.

Patrolling hadn't helped to settle Videls' mind as much as she had hoped for.

Erasa had called earlier and said she was going to be studying late with Gohan today and they'd reschedule for another day. She wasn't sure if her hanging out with him so much was a great thing, his nerd was rubbing off on her but at the same time Videl had been glad that she didn't come over. Erasa wanted to know all about the Gold Fighter and she didn't feel like talking about him. At all.

Lying in bed going over English homework she tapped her pen on paper as she thought about what points to put into her essay when something underneath her started to vibrate.

Jumping in surprise she dropped the pen to the floor. Shoving all the paper off her lap and to the side she arched her butt up to get whatever it was.

Pulling out her watch she turned it over to look at the ID, in big bold letters it read 'Videl backup'. She held it in her hand while she deliberated what she wanted to do but eventually she chucked it at her feet.

If he didn't have time to talk to her earlier then she didn't have time to talk to him now. She had homework to do.

-.

-.

Erasa had just left Gohans house, they had studied for so long that she ended up having dinner with the family for the first time ever. He would have been nervous about that if she hadn't seen a saiyan eat before or if Vegeta was still here but she had already had that experience and the prince was light years away.

Dinner was actually quite amusing for Gohan, he watched Mirai blush through the whole meal after he insisted Erasa sit next to him. He figured he probably shouldn't laugh at him considering he needed some good karma and luck with a girl of his own right now, but it was all fun and games.

Now he lay flat on his stomach on his bed with his face cradled in his palms while he stared at the watch.

He wanted to call her but he wasn't sure. Would she be angry still at him for hanging up today? Would she feel weird if he did call? He really wanted to talk to her but he didn't know if she'd want to talk to him.

After further deliberation he pulled it over to him and pulled up her ID and then nervously waited for her to pick up.

It rang and rang and rang but nothing, once it disconnected he tried again and then once more when she didn't pick up.

Frowning at the technology in his hand he set it on the bedside table and rolled over onto his back to stare blankly up at the ceiling.

He wasn't sure what he was going to say anyway but he would have liked to hear her voice, even if she was to yell at him for earlier but alas, the stars had not aligned with what he wanted.

Maybe this was a good thing though, he should never have kissed her because a part of him felt really guilty about it. Would she still be as willing to do that if she knew he was actually Gohan? How would she react if she ever found out? He didn't want her to feel like he had deceived her in any way.

Turning his head he frowned deeply at the watch. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if he were to leave it at where they stood now before anything further happened.

Picking the watch up again he stuffed it back into its hiding place and then rolled off the bed and left his room. Maybe if he played with Goten for a while it'd take his mind off her.

-.

-.

Three days had flown by and neither Videl nor Gohan had used their communicators to talk to each other.

Videl had seemed to continue on and be normal from what Gohan could tell but he couldn't shake it. He had to see her and be by her every day and know and it was driving him crazy. He just wanted to talk to her, that's all, but he couldn't do that as Gohan.

Opening up his locker that morning he took out everything he need for his first two classes before locking it back up.

"Oh Gohaaaan," for the first time ever Erasa hadn't squealed her arrival.

Turning around he saw her waving a piece of paper at him with the biggest smile he'd ever seen her give.

"What's that?" he asked.

Once she got closer she silently handed it to him, bouncing on her toes with excitement.

Straightening out the piece of paper he looked down seeing it was her math quiz and at the top in fine red marker it read '98%' with a neat little 'well done!' scrawled under it.

Keeping his face as straight as he could manage he looked up at her, "you didn't get 100%," and when her face fell and it looked like she was about to get mad he dropped the act and let out the big smile he was trying to hold in.

"I'm kidding, I am so proud of you!" he picked her up with his free arm and swirled her around and she began to laugh.

When he put her down she slapped him on the arm, "I was about to go crazy on you y'know!"

"Sorry, couldn't resist," he sheepishly apologised, "think your dad will be happy?"

"Oh yes! I've already texted him and he's very happy," she beamed, "he actually wants you to come over for dinner tonight if you don't mind?"

"Sure," he nodded, "I don't see why not."

Erasa took the paper from him and stuffed it inside her bag and then after a few seconds of digging she pulled out two purple envelopes and handed them to him.

Turning them both over he saw one had his name written on it and the other said 'Mirai' with a little love heart at the end of his name.

"They're invitations for my birthday," she held her hands behind her back and looked at him innocently, "it'd be really great if you could give that to Mirai."

Gohan ran his free hand through the back of his hair, "I can give it to him but I can't promise he'll go," he hesitantly told her.

Erasa grabbed his arm and continued to look at him with her big blue puppy dog eyes, "aw, can't you convince him Gohan? For my birthday."

She batted her eyelids at him and he inwardly groaned, "I'll try," he conceded.

Jumping up and down she let weird high pitch noises escape her, "thank you, thank you, thank you!" reaching high up onto her tippy toes she locked her arms around Gohans neck and pulled him down so she could kiss him on the cheek, "you're the best 'Han!"

"Alright you two break it up," Videl walked over, grinning at the two.

"Oh hey Videl!" the bell rang and Erasa hooked her arm through hers, "I'll see you later ok, Gohan," she looked back at him and he waved to both of them.

Sighing he opened his locker back up and sat the birthday invitations on the shelf before he shut it. He hoped he wasn't going to have to convince Mirai too much to go to this birthday, he didn't want to let Erasa down.

Tucking his books under his arm he made his way to rollcall.

-.

-.

"Your presence has been requested," Gohan walked into The Shed, skimming Mirais birthday invitation over the table to where he was working on the new dragon ball radar.

Lightly placing down the tool he was using he picked up the smooth purple envelope and read the writing on the front, "What's this?"

"A birthday invite," he dumped his bag on the table and sat on a stool across from him.

He delicately opened it so it wouldn't tear and pulled out the invitation, "do you think it's wise I go to this?"

Gohan drummed his fingers over the table, "probably not," he honestly answered, "but Erasa really wants you to be there."

He slid the invite back into the envelope and set it aside, "is that so."

"Uh-huh," he confirmed, "you must be pretty special, not even her best friend got a heart on her invite," he chuckled when Mirai growled for him to shut up.

"Pleeeeeeeease," he begged, "please, please, please, pleas-"

"Ok stop!" he laughed, "you sound like the boys."

"You'll go?" Gohan asked.

"Yes, fine," he relented, returning back to his work, "Only if you leave me alone now."

"Deal," he agreed, "I actually have to go to her house tonight so I won't be back for a while do you mind training Trunks and Goten on your own today?"

He confirmed and Gohan left to walk into the main part of the compound. Stripping off he looked through clothes he deemed appropriate for meeting parents and then had a quick shower.

Looking at the clothes he had laid out on the bed he chuckled, he couldn't believe how far he'd come with the way he dressed. He didn't care very much before about clothes but he had come to like the sense of pride he felt knowing his clothes were nice and fit him properly. He was never going to be able to go back to 'dad clothes'.

Getting dressed he tried to comb his hair back in the mirror before he brushed his teeth. Of course his hair just flung back to its normal self but it was worth a try.

Walking down to the garage he punched in the code and the door slid open. He thought maybe it'd be wiser to drive to Erasa's instead of fly, he didn't want to mess his clothes up.

Scanning through their wide selection he picked out a new shinny white modelled car, getting in he shoved his wallet and the watch into the glovebox. He knew it probably wasn't a good idea to keep waiting on Videl to call but he wanted to take the device just in case there was an emergency.

Bringing the car to life he left for Erasa's, hoping this meeting went smoothly.

He didn't have much experience in actually driving through the city but his trip went quick. He had put Erasa's address into the car navigation system and she hadn't been kidding when she had told him she lived right by Trunks and Gotens school.

Turning into the driveway he pulled up to a decent sized two story house, it was the same washed out yellow colour that reminded him of his parents' cottage.

Unbuckling his belt he leant forward so that he could do last minute check-ups on his appearance. Smoothing over his hair he took a deep breath and stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door.

_Knock knock _

He waited a few seconds and suddenly the door was wrenched open, he looked forward and didn't see anyone.

"Hello?" came a voice.

Looking down he flinched back when he saw a small kid standing as tall as his waist looking up at him with the same big blue eyes Erasa had.

"Oh! Hi, I didn't see you there," he stepped back, "you must be-"

"Jack who's at the door!"

The kid leant back, "your boyfriend is here!" he shouted, much to Gohans embarrassment.

Erasa appeared just a second later, her hair was in a mess and she had flour on her apron and face.

"Shut up Jack," she pushed him out of the way, "hey 'Han!" not wanting to mess up his clothes she kissed him on the cheek and then pulled him inside.

"Daddy!" she called out.

A man in a suit came walking down the stairs and to Gohans surprise he had a head full of dark brown hair, "you must be Gohan!"

Gohan held his hand out for him to take but the man pulled him into a hug instead.

"It is a pleasure to meet you my boy," he pulled back and let both of his hands rest on Gohans shoulders. Erasa asked if he wanted anything to drink before she disappeared and her father lead him into the sitting room.

"Thank you for coming over," he motioned for Gohan to take a seat on the couch and then he sat at the opposite end, "I know you've only worked with Erasa for the last few weeks but I can already see a difference in the way she works and I see she's already bringing out some great results, all thanks to you son!"

Gohan ran his fingers through his hair, "most of the credit should go to Erasa honestly," he admitted, "she's the one who came to me and put in all the effort."

The two men continued to talk, Gohan asked about where he worked and he asked about Gohans studies and general life and then they were all called into the dining room for dinner.

It had been a quick affair and before he knew it he was helping Erasa with all the wash up, dipping and scrubbing pots and plates and then passing them on to her to be dried.

"Did you like dinner?" Erasa asked.

"Surprisingly, yes," he answered, "I never thought you'd be able to cook like that."

Erasa giggled, "my mom doesn't live here and dads away at work a lot so I usually cook for me and Jack."

"Your mom is she…?"

"Dead? No," she smiled, "luckily. My mom and dad separated, she just lives on the other side of town."

"That doesn't bother you?" he pushed a little harder on the brush when a stubborn food stain wouldn't wash off.

Wiping her cheek on her shoulder she smiled, "well I guess when it happened it was obviously devastating but it's better this way," she took the next plate from him, "mom is happier and my brother doesn't have to grow up hearing them yell at each other every night and I'm grateful I still have both of my parents y'know? Some aren't so lucky."

Gohan gave her the last dish and then drained the water from the sink, trying to think of something to say to change the subject.

"Oh!" he clicked, "I have some good news for you."

"Oh yeah?" using the towel she dried off her hands and hung it up.

"Mhmm," he nodded, "I talked to Mirai about your birthday and he's in."

"Really!?" she excitedly jumped up and down, untying her apron she threw it on the table and latched herself onto him, "I knew I could count on you!"

He patted her back, "no worries, he didn't really need that much goading to be honest with you."

She started to squeal and bounce, "this means I have to look perfect on the night! Oh, do you wanna see what I have picked out?" she grinned, "come on!"

Running up the stairs Gohan followed, first they entered a large room that held a tv and furnishings and then entered into a room just off that.

Taking his first step in he cringed, the walls were painted an alarming shade of pastel pink and then her furnishings were all black and white.

Disappearing into her walk in closet she sifted through it and came out with a short frilly purple dress. Holding it up to herself she looked to him, "I haven't brought shoes or anything to go with it yet but what do you think?"

Gohan didn't know anything about dresses so he just nodded, "sure, looks great."

Throwing the dress onto her bed she turned around to look into her full length mirror to comb at her short hair, "I was thinking maybe I should grow my hair out before then. The party is in a few months but it should be at least at my shoulders by then."

Gohan walked around Erasa's room, admiring the many pictures she had stuck on her wall. There were pictures of her brother and her mom and dad then there was a big section that was dedicated to just her friends. He recognised a few girls he'd seen Erasa talk to and then he saw the spot she had reserved for Sharpner and Videl. The one right in the centre was what caught his eye, it had just her and Videl smiling at the camera, they looked no more than 10.

"Hey E?" he called and she hummed to let him know she was listening, "if a guy you liked hung up on you what would you do?"

Continuing to look over her appearance she thought, "I'd probably be mad," she answered, "well if it wasn't for an extremely good reason of course."

"How long would you stay mad for?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"Until he apologised," she then turned to look at him, "what's with the questions?"

"Um Bulma and her husband," he quickly answered, "I-I heard them fighting and I was just wondering how long that was going to last," he lied. Really, he should be concerned at how easy it was becoming to make things up.

"Do they fight a lot?" she fell back onto the bed.

Gohan inwardly laughed, she had no idea, "here and there."

Sitting down on her bed Gohan stayed for a while longer and talked with Erasa and then later on went down stairs to talk to her father some more. He revealed the reason he wanted him over tonight was to offer to pay him for tutoring his daughter but Gohan wouldn't hear of it, he really didn't need the money and it was kinda nice having Erasa over to study and talk to about his family. She didn't know everything but she knew enough for him to feel pretty comfortable around her.

When it started to get late he had left for home and once he got there he sat in the driver's seat for a while. Reaching over to the glovebox he pulled out his wallet and the watch and he thought about what Erasa had said. He did want to apologise but he didn't know if she would pick up if he tried to call again.

Starting to get cold sitting inside the car he got out, trying to deciding on how exactly he was going to talk to her, walking through the garden to get to the back entrance he paused when he brushed against one of the many flower shrubs. Taking a small purple one between his fingers he plucked it from its place and smiled.

Maybe he had an idea.

-.

-.

Saturday morning Videl woke up to a knock on her bedroom door.

Rolling over she looked at her clock to see it was almost 10:30, kicking off her blankets she fell out of bed and dragged herself over to the door and opened it.

"Hey girrrl," a very awake Erasa waved to her.

"What are you doing here E?" she rubbed at her groggy eyes.

"You promised to tell me about the Gold Fighter," she pouted, "we haven't had time to talk at all this week so I thought I'd drop by this morning."

Videl didn't feel like arguing just this moment so she just let the door slide open so she could walk in and immediately she went over to her bed and made herself comfortable on it and Videl went over and got back under the covers.

"Ok, I will tell you about the Gold Fighter on one condition," Videl held her index finger to her, "you have to tell me what's going on with you and Gohan."

Erasa rolled her eyes, "come on! I already told you there's nothing there."

Videl just arched her eyebrow at her, daring her to tell the truth.

"Seriously!" she squealed, "there is absolutely, positively, 100% nothing going on with me and Gohan," she insisted.

"Are you sure?" she grinned, "you two looked pretty chummy in the hallway yesterday and from what I've gathered you two hang out a lot."

"We're friends?" she said, "I do all the same things with Sharpner so what makes it different with Gohan?"

"So you're telling me you don't like Gohan? At all?" she questioned.

"I like Gohan as a friend," she stated, "and I'm pretty sure he thinks the same."

"How do you know he doesn't like you?" she asked matter of factly.

"Because!" her face was starting to go pink with frustration, "I don't think Gohans had a lot of experience with girls or if he even likes girls so if he had a crush on me I'd definitely be able to tell."

Videl chuckled a little, she had got under her skin when usually it was Erasa getting under hers, "are you saying Gohans gay?"

"Well, no!" she spluttered, "but I don't know, would you be surprised if he were to come out as gay?"

Videl thought about it, "not really actually."

"ANYWAY," Erasa sighed, "enough about me! Tell me all about the Gold Fighter."

"Can I at least go to the bathroom first before we get into it?" she threw the blanket off and started to get up before she had a chance to agree or disagree.

Seeing her go without a second glance she called after her, "only if you get me a drink while you're up!"

Stretching out Erasa got up and went over to Videls window and wrenched the curtains open to let the light stream into the room when she saw a bundle of flowers lying idle just outside of the door. Unlocking it she opened it up and plucked them from the ground, they were tied together with a piece of white string which had a note that read '-J'

"I didn't know what you wanted so I just got juice," Videl said.

Erasa circled around and held the flowers up to Videl, "these were outside your door."

Videl put the drinks she had down on the bedside table and walked to her and took the flowers. Turning the note over she read what was on it and started to turn pink.

"Did I miss something?" Erasa looked at her expectantly, "I can't take it anymore, spill, NOW."

Jumping back onto the bed she patted it and Videl sat down with the flowers in her lap.

"Did he come see you again? Did something else happen?" Erasa asked, taking one of the flowers from the bunch she smelt it.

"There was a bit of a thing that happened," she said, "I gave him one of my watches so that I could call him if the force ever needed his help," Videl explained, "I called him on Tuesday afternoon and he was with another girl."

"Oh no, definitely not a good start," she began to play with her nails, "did he say who it was?"

"Nope," she put the flowers down beside her bed, "but he did hang up on me after whoever she was started talking to him."

Erasa bit her lip when Videls expression started to turn sour, "maybe it was his sister or mom or something."

Videl shook her head, "he doesn't have either. He told me his mom and dad died and he only had a little brother."

Erasa frowned, that story sounded strangely familiar. She went to open her mouth to ask another question when suddenly something started to ring.

Videl leaned over and dug through her draw while Erasa looked on in puzzlement. She had heard that exact ringing just a few days ago and when Videl pulled out her watch it clicked.

Sitting there with her mouth hanging open Videl began to talk to someone who was filling her in on an emergency, she only snapped out of it when Videl got up and started to get dressed, saying she needed to leave.

"S-so what day did you say you called him?" she asked.

Videl disappeared into her wardrobe, digging through her draws, "Tuesday!" she shouted.

"And what time exactly?" she walked to the wardrobe.

"I don't know, maybe 4:30ish, why?" taking off the shirt she had worn to bed she threw on a clean one and then grabbed a pair of shoes.

Erasa's eyes were wide but she kept her mouth clamped shut, "no reason."

Shoving her shoes on Videl began to lace them up, "listen, I know I said I'd tell you everything but I've really gotta go."

"No! No – it's fine, I've gotta go somewhere anyway," she told her.

Yes, she needed to pay a friend a little visit.

-.

-.

**The legendary Gold Fighter has been found out, what will happen next? Stay tuned chickydees **

**Thank you, thank you, thank you to you all for the reviews and encouragement! The amount of support I got after the last chapter inspired me to write this chapter faster haha so you've only got yourselves to thank for this story.**

**I'm not going to reply to all of the messages this chapter because it's 3am where I am now and I just want to get this chap to y'all and catch some zzzzzzz but I hope you enjoyed it, promise not to keep you waiting for the next.**

**Also one last thing, I was thinking about writing an Erasa/Mirai spin off fic, yeah or nah? Let me know.**


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